Manchester City flirted with a disastrous exit from the Champions League before rallying to beat Club Brugge 3-1 in a must-win game on Thursday morning (AEDT) and advanced to the knockout phase.
Man City trailed 1-0 at half time and sat 26th in the 36-team standings before substitute Savinho sparked the 2023 title-winner to avoid elimination. City finished 22nd.
Paris Saint-Germain also secured its place in the top-24 teams and will enter the knockout playoffs rounds, winning 4-1 at Stuttgart to eliminate the German club.
Savio celebrates with Matheus Nunes after scoring to put Manchester City 3-1 ahead against Club Brugge. Crystal Pix/MB Media/Getty Images
PSG impressed again after a crucial 4-2 comeback win over Man City one week ago and rose to 15th place. That puts PSG on a path to meet Liverpool or Barcelona in the round of 16 in March if it wins an all-French playoff against Monaco or Brest.
Real Madrid and Bayern Munich finished outside the top eight despite winning their last games and both must enter a knockout playoffs round over two legs in February. Madrid won 3-0 at Brest and Bayern beat Slovan Bratislava 3-1.
Only the top eight teams go directly to the round of 16, and Bayern finished 10th with defending champion Madrid 11th.
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Inter Milan, Arsenal and Atletico Madrid sealed top-eight finishes as expected — joining Liverpool and Barcelona advancing directly to the round of 16 — with low-key wins. Inter beat Monaco 3-0, Arsenal won 2-1 at Girona and Atletico won 4-1 at Salzburg, which had a woeful campaign.
Bayer Leverkusen, Lille — which thrashed Feyenoord 6-1 — and Aston Villa completed the top eight.
Stuttgart dropped to 26th place and was eliminated along with Dinamo Zagreb, despite its 2-1 win over AC Milan. Brugge took the 24th qualification place ahead of Dinamo on the tiebreaker of goal difference.
Paris Saint-Germain captain Marquinhos leads his team off the field after their Champions League win over VfB Stuttgart. Xavier Laine via Getty Images
Here's the state of play after the conclusion of the first stage of the Champions League.
Teams qualified automatically to the round of 16
Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Lille, Aston Villa
How the playoffs look for the remaining round-of-16 spots
Monaco or Brest vs Paris Saint-Germain or Benfica (for the right to play Liverpool or Barcelona)
Sporting Lisbon or Club Brugge vs Atalanta or Borussia Dortmund (for the right to play Lille or Aston Villa)
Celtic or Manchester City vs Real Madrid or Bayern Munich (for the right to play Atletico Madrid or Bayer Leverkusen)
Feyenoord or Juventus vs AC Milan or PSV Eindhoven (for the right to play Arsenal or Inter Milan)
Brest or Monaco vs Benfica or Paris Saint-Germain (for the right to play Barcelona or Liverpool)
Club Brugge or Sporting Lisbon vs Borussia Dortmund or Atalanta (for the right to play Aston Villa or Lille)
Manchester City or Celtic vs Bayern Munich or Real Madrid (for the right to play Bayer Leverkusen or Atletico Madrid)
Juventus or Feyenoord vs PSV Eindhoven or AC Milan (for the right to play Inter Milan or Arsenal)
Teams eliminated from the Champions League
Young Boys, Slovan Bratislava, Salzburg, Girona, Leipzig, Sparta Prague, Sturm Graz, Red Star Belgrade, Bologna, Shakhtar Donetsk, Stuttgart and Dinamo Zagreb.