WE are down to the knockout stages of the Champions League.
Coming into the final matchday of the league phase, Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea, Newcastle and Manchester City all risk being involved in the knockout play-off round.
The top eight from the league phase are automatically through to the last-16 of the Champions League.
But those that finish between ninth and 24th in the table face a two-legged play-off encounter to join them in the next round.
When is the Champions League play-off draw?
- The draw takes place on Friday, January 30 at 11am GMT.
- The draw will be aired on Uefa’s official website and TNT Sports YouTube channel.
- TNT Sports 1 will also provide coverage of the event.
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How does the Champions League play-off draw work?
Clubs are paired together according to where they finished in the table.
There are four seeded pairs and they are the teams that finished 9th and 10th, 11th and 12th, 13th and 14th, 15th and 16th.
The unseeded duos are 17th and 18th, 19th and 20th, 21st and 22nd, 23rd and 24th.
They are then drawn against their corresponding unseeded pair, so 9th and 10th get 23rd and 24th, 11th and 12th get 21st and 22nd, and so on before the match-ups are finally made.
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Clubs can face rivals from the same country as them and teams they already played in the league phase.
When will the Champions League play-off matches be played?
First legs are set for February 17 and 18. Second legs on either February 24 or 25.
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