The two huge clubs Man City could draw in Champions League knockout play-offs
The two huge clubs Man City could draw in Champions League knockout play-offs
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The Premier League champions live to fight another day in Europe. It was a rollercoaster, but Manchester City are safely through to the knockout rounds of the Champions League after coming from behind to beat Club Brugge 3-1 on the final day of group-stage action.
Mateo Kovacic, an own goal and Savinho stopped City stunningly crashing out after Raphael Onyedika gave Brugge a lead on the stroke of half-time but Pep Guardiola’s side have to settle for the play-offs after finishing outside of the top eight of the league phase.
Improbable collapses to Sporting, Feyenoord and Paris Saint-Germain left the 2023 European champions in a precarious position going into the final round. But City kept their nerve to beat Club Brugge and advance, although a difficult path through to the Munich finals now awaits them with two European giants as their potential opponents.
City will be unseeded for Friday’s play-off draw but the Premier League side may take that after facing the possibility of crashing out altogether. After finishing the league phase as the 22nd seed, Manchester City will have to negotiate the play-off rounds.
And City will be among the non-seeded sides for Friday’s draw, which will determine the exact position of the teams in the bracket. They will face either Bayern Munich or Real Madrid in the play-offs. By finishing 22nd, City ensured they will face either the 11th-place team (Real Madrid) or the 12th-place team (Bayern Munich), with Celtic, who finished 21st, facing the other one.
