England’s Champions League clubs have learned their potential last 16 opponents after five of them finished in the top eight to automatically qualify.
Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea, and Manchester City are all through to the last 16, leaving only Newcastle to negotiate the play-offs.
In a madcap league phase finale, Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain were forced into the play-offs, Napoli were knocked out altogether, and Benfica goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin scored a 98th-minute header to keep Jose Mourinho’s side in the competition.
Newcastle drew 1-1 at PSG and must therefore play Monaco or Qarabag in a two-legged tie in February to see if they can join their fellow Premier League sides. If they make it to the last 16, they will then face Barcelona or Chelsea.
Arsenal will face Atalanta, Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund, or Olympiacos in the last 16 after finishing top of the league phase.
Mikel Arteta’s men edged out Kazakh side Kairat 3-2 at the Emirates to become the first club to win all eight league phase games since the new format came in last season.
Liverpool and Tottenham will play either Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Club Brugge, or Galatasaray after finishing third and fourth in the league phase.
Arne Slot’s side hammered Qarabag 6-0 at Anfield to continue their fine Champions League form while Tottenham got the job done at Frankfurt with a 2-0 win.
Chelsea will face PSG, Newcastle, Monaco, or Qarabag in the last 16 after clinching a 3-2 comeback win at Newcastle thanks to Joao Pedro’s second-half double.
And Manchester City – who just made the last 16 by finishing eighth – will play Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Bodo/Glimt, or Benfica in the knockout stages after beating Galatasaray 2-0.
Peering further into the tournament, Arsenal and Manchester City are in the same segment of the draw so could be on a collision course in the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, Liverpool and Tottenham will not meet each other at that stage but could come up against Chelsea or Newcastle.
Arsenal, Liverpool, and Tottenham have all earned a home game in the second leg of their last-16 and potential quarter-final ties thanks to coming in the top four.
The Gunners will also play the second leg of their semi-final at home – if indeed they get that far – thanks to finishing in the top two.
The other teams who made the top eight were Bayern Munich (second), Barcelona (fifth), and Sporting Lisbon (seventh), who scored a 94th-minute winner at Athletic Bilbao to seal automatic qualification and knock Real Madrid into the play-offs.
Avoiding the play-offs in February is a massive boost for teams in giving them time for recovery and preparation.
Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior summed up the impact as such: ‘That’s huge. It gives us a chance to really work with the players on the training ground. I’m delighted that we’re through in this manner.’
Howe said: ‘Of course we wanted to go through automatically, but we won’t look at those games as a negative.
‘We’re in a busy schedule and have had a lot of games this season but we have a conscientious group of players and this is just another challenge they’ve got to rise to.’
As for Newcastle, they will now have to play eight matches in February as they also have four Premier League games, a Carabao Cup semi-final second leg at Manchester City, and an FA Cup fourth-round trip to Aston Villa.
In terms of big play-off ties, Mourinho could face Real Madrid again with Benfica – having just defeated them 4-2 in Lisbon.
Meanwhile, PSG may have to negotiate an all-French contest against Monaco.
The draw for the play-offs is on Friday.
