City survive scare to set up mouth-watering playoff; Villa pull off miracle in wild final round – CL Wrap

Manchester City gave their fans an almighty scare but ultimately got the job done to advance to the knockout stage, while Premier League outfits Liverpool, Arsenal and Aston Villa all booked a top eight spot and automatic passage to the Champions League’s Round of 16.

Watch every ball of The 2025 Women’s Ashes Series LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on Kayo | New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer.

Eighteen matches kicked off simultaneously across Europe on an eventful Wednesday evening but all eyes were on Manchester with the 2023 champions needing a win at home against Belgian side Club Brugge in the final matchday of the league phase to keep their campaign alive.

Entering the night in lowly 26th place with just eight points from seven games, City needed all three points to jump into the top 24 who reach the next phase, and they earned them with a come-from-behind 3-1 victory.

It was far from smooth sailing for City, who will next face reigning champions Real Madrid or German giants Bayern Munich in a mouth-watering playoff for a place in the Round of 16, as despite having 70% possession, they trailed 1-0 at half time.

Raphael Onyedika slammed home the opener in the 45th minute after a brilliant cut back from Ferran Jutgla as Pep Guardiola’s side failed to register a single shot on target in the first half.

Perhaps the fact a merchandise store outside the Etihad Stadium went up in flames shortly before the teams arrived at the ground was a sign that the night was not going to go to plan for City, just as their Premier League campaign has not with the four-time defending champions sitting in fourth place 12 points behind league leaders Liverpool, who have a game in hand.

But they managed to click into gear after the break with Mateo Kovacic levelling the scores with a low shot from the top of the box that beat former Liverpool shot stopper Simon Mignolet.

City then received a stroke of good fortune with an own goal putting them in front.

Erling Haaland was waiting for a tap-in on the end of Josko Gvardiol’s low cross at the back post, but Brugge defender Joel Ordonez turned it into his own net as he slid in to try stop the ball from reaching Haaland.

City could finally breath a sigh of relief in the 76th minute when substitute Savinho played the ball down beautifully off his chest from a pass over the top by Jon Stones and smashed it into the net at the near post to add a third.

“We were on the verge, 45 minutes from being out. It is an incredible lesson for me, the club that nothing is (taken) for granted,” Guardiola said.

“In the second half we lifted our soul and our hearts were free.”

Guardiola also suggested that with City’s new signings Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis becoming available, and the potential returns from injury for defensive duo Nathan Ake and Ruben Dias, his side will be raring to go for their clash with either Real or Bayern.

“In two weeks will be better than we are (now),” he said. “Against these two giants, one of them we are going to play, we’ll see how we arrive.”

LIVERPOOL TOPS TABLE

City’s English rivals all progressed meanwhile, with Liverpool hanging onto first place despite losing 3-2 away to Dutch outfit PSV.

Arne Slot made a whopping nine changes to the starting line-up from the Reds’ 4-1 win at Anfield against Ipswich Town with only Andrew Robertson and Cody Gapko backing up mid-week.

Superstars including Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Alisson were among a host of first-choice players who were not even in the squad for the trip to Eindhoven.

Dutchman Gapko scored a penalty against his former club in enthralling five-goal first half that included two goals from the home side in stoppage time to take the lead at the break.

It was an engrossing contest but with Liverpool’s place in the top eight secure and PSV holding firmly onto their lead to ensure their place in the knockouts, a bit of the sting went out of the game in the second half despite Reds 18-year-old debutant Amara Nallo being shown a straight red card for a clumsy challenge after coming off the bench.

It was Liverpool’s first European loss of the season, having won all seven previous matches but Barcelona’s 2-2 draw at home to Italian side Atalanta kept them on top.

‘IMPRESSIVE’ TEEN INSPIRES ARSENAL

Meanwhile in Spain, Arsenal also made nine changes to their starting XI from their 1-0 win away at Wolves on the weekend.

The Gunners started the final matchday in third place with their spot in the top eight confirmed, so they too took the chance to rest and rotate as they picked up a 2-1 win at Girona.

The hosts scored the opener through Arnaut Danjuma in the 28th minute, but Mikel Arteta’s side responded with a Jorginho penalty in the 38th minute and 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri put them in front four minutes later.

“I’m really impressed, making his debut as a Champions League starter today and scoring the goal that he scored, especially in a very important moment,” Arteta said.

“His influence, his composure on the ball and how aggressive he is when he gets it, it’s impressive.”

In the 77th minute, Arsenal suffered a scare as the ball ended up in the back of their net, but it was ruled out for offside and they held onto third position on the table, winning four straight European matches.

Awaiting them in the Round of 16 will be one of Juventus, AC Milan, Feyenoord or PSV, and with a massive Premier League clash with Manchester City and the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final at Newcastle to come in the next week, Arteta is hopeful that his team will have the confidence to take down anyone

“Winning in this competition is very demanding but overall the team has been very consistent, regardless of all the issues they have had to face,” he said.

“(Hopefully it breeds) more belief in that dressing room that we are a good team and we can face anyone and still perform and win games.”

VILLA CLINCH TOP EIGHT BERTH

The wildest match of the night came arguably at Villa Park with Aston Villa prevailing 4-2 in a topsy turvy clash with Scottish giants Celtic.

Morgan Rogers scored twice in the opening five minutes for the hosts and it was party time for Villa fans as they needed a win to book their place in the top eight.

The visitors then threatened a boil over with Adam Idah scoring twice in the space of three minutes later in the first half to level the scores at the break.

Ollie Watkins, who reportedly received a bid from Arsenal earlier in the day that was rejected by Villa, scored in the 60th minute to put the home side back in front but he could have had a brace shortly after when he won a penalty, and slipped when taking it to launch the ball high into the stands.

But Rogers made it four in stoppage time to ensure that he took home the match ball as Villa finished in eighth place to automatically progress to the Round of 16 after chalking up five wins and a draw from eight games in an impressive league phase.

Across the 18 matches, there 62 goals scored with Real Madrid winning 3-0 away at Brest, Bayern Munich defeating Slovan Bratislava 3-1 at home and PSG picking up a 4-1 win at VfB Stuttgart to register a third straight victory and ensure that they progressed.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TOP 8

Liverpool 21

Barcelona 19

Arsenal 19

Inter Milan 19

Atletico Madrid 18

Leverkusen 16

LOSC 16

Aston Villa 16

KNOCKOUT PLAYOFF ROUND TIES

Monaco or Brest will play PSG or Benfica

Feeding into a RO16 tie against >> Liverpool or Barcelona

Sporting or Club Brugge will play Atalanta or Dortmund

Feeding into a RO16 tie against >> Lille or Aston Villa

Celtic or Man City will play Real Madrid or Bayern

Feeding into a RO16 tie against >> Atletico or Leverkusen

Feyenoord or Juventus will play Milan or PSV

Feeding into a RO16 tie against >> Arsenal or Inter