Manchester City face nightmare UEFA Champions League last-16 play-off tie after 22nd place finish | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City players face a mammoth task to reach the last-16 of the UEFA Champions League with their play-off tie fate now confirmed.

The Premier League champions came from behind to defeat Club Brugge on the final matchday of this season’s league phase to book themselves a spot in the last-16 play-off round after a largely dismal opening phase of the competition.

Heavy defeats to Sporting, Juventus, and Paris Saint-Germain meant City were forced to secure a victory in their last game to scrape into the play-off places by a single point and closely accompanied by the aforementioned Portuguese side and their opponents from Belgium.

Goals from Mateo Kovacic, Savinho, and an own goal sandwiched between the two City goalscorers ensured three points for the club and prevented a shock from taking place at the Etihad Stadium once again.

But upon the full-time whistle around the grounds across Europe, it appears as though the task has just got even harder for Manchester City to reach the first knock-out round of the tournament this season.

Following Manchester City’s 22nd-place finish in the league phase of the UEFA Champions League, either they or Scottish Premier League giants Celtic will take on either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich in a last-16 play-off tie.

From there, should City progress past either the La Liga or Bundesliga club, they will face a round of 16 clash against either Atletico Madrid or Bayer Leverkusen, representing a mammoth uphill task to progress in the tournament.

The knockout phase play-offs are played over the course of two weeks:

First legs: 11/12 February 2025

Second legs: 18/19 February 2025

For Manchester City, that would mean that a first-leg play-off clash against either Bayern Munich or Real Madrid would take place after the FA Cup fourth round tie away to Leyton Orient, and before the Premier League meeting with Newcastle United at the Etihad Stadium.

The second-leg would follow the latter of the aforementioned two fixtures, and come before Manchester City’s mammoth meeting with Liverpool at home in the Premier League on Sunday 23 February.

The 2024/25 UEFA Champions League knockout phase play-off draw takes place from 11:00 (UK) on Friday 31 January, with the procedure conducted at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland.

UEFA have confirmed that the full draw procedure will be streamed live on UEFA.com, while City Xtra will offer an instant outcome should Manchester City be present in the draw on our social media channels and website.

The teams that finished between ninth and 24th in the league phase will compete in a two-legged knockout phase play-off to secure their path to the last 16 of the competition.

Those teams are, and in order:

AtalantaBorussia DortmundReal MadridBayern MunichAC MilanPSVPSGBenficaAS MonacoBrestFeyenoordJuventusCelticManchester CitySportingClub Brugge