Barcelona were held to 2-2 draw at home to Atalanta, who missed out on an automatic place in the Champions League last 16 due to results elsewhere.
Lamine Yamal gave Barcelona the lead two minutes into the second half, but Éderson levelled for Atalanta 20 minutes later with a stunning effort from the edge of the area. Ronald Araújo headed home from a corner to restore Barça’s lead soon after, before Mario Pasalic levelled again for the visitors with a fine nutmegged finish.
A goal for Atalanta in the dying moments would have seen them edge out Aston Villa, who beat Celtic 4-2 at home, for eighth place, but Barcelona held out to finish second in the league phase table, two points behind Liverpool.
Bayer Leverkusen earned a place in the last 16 with a 2-0 home win over eliminated Sparta Prague. Goals in each half from Florian Wirtz and Nathan Tella secured progress for Xabi Alonso’s side, who will be joined by Lille after they thrashed Feyenoord 6-1, with Jonathan David and Remy Cabella among the goals as the hosts ran riot in the second half, scoring four times.
Inter eased to a 3-0 home victory over 10-man Monaco to secure a top-eight finish. Lautaro Martínez opened the scoring with a fourth-minute penalty, before Christian Mawissa Elebi was sent off eight minutes later. Martínez scored his second in the 16th minute, finishing smartly from Nicolò Barella’s through ball, and completed his hat-trick in the second half.
Atlético Madrid booked their spot in the last 16 with a comfortable 4-1 away victory over eliminated Red Bull Salzburg. Giuliano Simeone scored first after five minutes, before setting up Antoine Griezmann for Atlético’s second. Griezmann made it three just before the break, slotting home from Samuel Lino’s pass.
Bayern Munich made sure of a seeded playoff spot as Harry Kane struck in their 3-1 home win over eliminated Slovan Bratislava. Thomas Müller scored on eight minutes for the hosts before Kane and Kingsley Coman made certain of victory in the second half – but results elsewhere prevented the German giants claiming a top-eight finish.
Real Madrid also came up just short of claiming an automatic last-16 place despite a 3-0 win over Brest, who drop into the unseeded playoff teams. Rodrygo gave Carlo Ancelotti’s side a 1-0 half-time lead and Jude Bellingham doubled the advantage after Ludovic Ajorque’s goal was disallowed for Brest. Rodrygo’s second goal 12 minutes from time made the result certain.
Borussia Dortmund had to settle for 10th place and a playoff spot as they won 3-1 at home to Shakhtar Donetsk, whose slim hopes of progres were ended by defeat. Serhou Guirassy stuck twice in the first half for the hosts, with Ramy Bensebaini making sure of victory 11 minutes from time after Marlon Gomes’s goal for Shakhtar.
Milan fell from sixth to 13th with a 2-1 defeat at Dinamo Zagreb, who just missed out on the playoffs despite their victory. Martin Baturina put the hosts in front before Milan’s Yunus Musah was sent off late in the second half. Christian Pulisic grabbed an unlikely equaliser, but Marko Pjaca netted the winner on the hour.
Benfica climbed above Juventus and into the final seeded playoff spot with a 2-0 victory in Turin, thanks to goals in each half from Vangelis Pavlidis and Orkun Kokcu. sporting rescued a place in the playoffs as teenage striker Conrad Harder scored a 77th-minute leveller at home to eliminated Bologna.
In the two games between teams that were already eliminated, Sturm Graz beat RB Leipzig, who finish with one win and seven defeats. Red Star Belgrade edged to 1-0 win in Bern over Young Boys, who finished pointless and bottom of the league.
Quick Guide
Champions League: potential playoffs and last 16 games
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The Champions League’s inaugural ‘league phase’ is now complete, with the top eight sides – Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter, Atlético, Leverkusen, Lille and Aston Villa – going straight to the last 16. The teams who finished between 9th and 24th have been matched in seeded and unseeded pairs, to be allocated into playoff ties in Friday’s draw (11am GMT).
To give an example, Celtic (21st) and Manchester City (22nd) will face Real Madrid (11th) or Bayern Munich (12th), with the winners advancing to play either Atlético (seeded fifth) or Leverkusen (6th). So the draw could potentially put Celtic v Real Madrid on one side, and Manchester City v Bayern on the other.
The playoffs will take place on 11-12 and 18-19 February, before a further draw on 21 February decides who the playoff winners will face in the last 16. So, if Real Madrid and Bayern Munich advance, they will be drawn to play either Atlético or Leverkusen. Teams from the same country can be paired together at any point.
Playoff ties and last-16 opponents
(17) Monaco or (18) Brest v (15) PSG or (16) Benfica
– winner will face (1) Liverpool or (2) Barcelona in last 16
(23) sporting or (24) Brugge v (9) Atalanta or (10) Dortmund
– winner will face (7) Lille or (8) Aston Villa in last 16
(21) Celtic or (22) Man City v (11) Real Madrid or (12) Bayern
– winner will face (5) Atlético or (6) Leverkusen in last 16
(19) Feyenoord or (20) Juventus v (13) Milan or (14) PSV
– winner will face (3) Arsenal or (4) Inter in last 16
(18) Brest or (17) Monaco v (16) Benfica or (15) PSG
– winner will face (2) Barcelona or (1) Liverpool in last 16
(24) Brugge or sporting (23) v (10) Dortmund or (9) Atalanta
– winner will face (8) Aston Villa or (7) Lille in last 16
(22) Man City or (21) Celtic v (12) Bayern or (11) Real Madrid
– winner will face (6) Leverkusen or (5) Atlético in last 16
(20) Juventus or (19) Feyenoord v (14) PSV or (13) Milan
– winner will face (4) Inter or Arsenal (3) in last 16
Straight through to round of 16: Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter, Atlético Madrid, Leverkusen, Lille, Aston Villa.
Playoff teams (seeded): Atalanta, Dortmund, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Milan, PSV Eindhoven, PSG, Benfica.
Playoff teams (unseeded): Monaco, Brest, Feyenoord, Juventus, Celtic, Manchester City, sporting, Club Brugge.
