• Some huge names were eliminated during this week’s Champions League playoffs
  • Kylian Mbappe hat-trick sends champions Real Madrid through to Round of 16
  • PSG thrash Brest 7-0 in second leg of their playoff
Credit: Imago

Some of Europe’s biggest clubs are nowhere to be seen in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League, after a thrilling round of playoffs decided who would enter the knockout phase proper.

The revamped format of the tournament meant that, unless a team finished in the top eight of the new league format, but placed between 9th and 24th, they would enter an extra playoff round, played out across two legs, to determine whether or not they would advance to the traditional round of 16.

While the updated format has been met with plenty of skepticism and criticism, it did inject a heap of unexpected excitement into proceedings during the opening rounds of this season’s competition. Namely the struggles faced by many of Europe’s heavyweights, such as defending champions Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City and Juventus.

It was a European campaign to forget for Manchester City

This week saw the second legs of the playoffs take place, deciding the final eight teams to join the top eight from the opening league campaign in the last 16.

So who is continuing on the road to Munich?

Which Teams Have Qualified For The Champions League Round of 16?

Teams that automatically qualified for the round of 16 after finishing in the top eight of the new league system are; Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal, Internazionale, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Lille, Aston Villa.

The other eight teams that reached the last 16 thanks to playoff victories are; Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Benfica, Club Brugge, PSG, Feyenoord, PSV Eindhoven, Borussia Dortmund

Which Teams Have Been Eliminated From The Champions League?

The playoffs saw some major names dumped out of the competition at a surprisingly early stage. Kylian Mbappe’s breathtaking second-leg hat-trick, coupled with Jude Bellingham’s last gasp winner in the first-leg, sent Manchester City crashing out at the earliest stage since Pep Guardiola took over as manager in 2016.

Elsewhere, it was a bad opening round for Serie A, with Juventus succumbing to defeat at the hands of PSV Eindhoven, while Feyenoord and Club Brugge dealt with AC Milan and Atalanta, respectively. This leaves only beaten 2023 finalists Inter as the sole Italian representative in the last 16.

Despite a promising start to their European campaign, Sporting CP were eliminated at the hands (or feet, rather) of Borussia Dortmund. A bitter pill to swallow for the Portuguese champions, who had won three and drawn one of their opening four fixtures in the competition when Ruben Amorim was still in charge.

The draw for the round of 16 takes place on Friday, February 21 at 6am ET/5am CT/3am PT.

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Joe Baiamonte
Joe spent four years heading up SPORTbible’s editorial team before taking over at UNILAD Sport. Joe has regularly provided WWE coverage for almost a decade, interviewing many of the biggest names in the business and covering several major events in the United States and Europe, including four WrestleManias.
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