After we wrapped up the Champions League league phase by becoming the first club to win all eight of our matches, our fate in the knockout stages is starting to emerge.
Last night saw 24 teams advance in the competition, while another 12 were eliminated. 16 of those 24 will do battle in the play-off round, which we will skip courtesy of finishing in the top eight. Meanwhile our spot at the top of the table means we will have second-leg home advantage right the way through the knockout stages.
So who could we face, and when will we know? We’ve analysed everything for you here:
Who has qualified for the last 16 already?
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As well as ourselves, seven other teams can enjoy a couple of midweeks off during February with their spots in the last 16 secure.
Bayern Munich finished second, with the only points they dropped courtesy of our 3-1 success back in November. Liverpool and Tottenham finished third and fourth, while two other fellow Premier League teams have also advanced - Chelsea and Manchester City.
The final spot was secured by Sporting Lisbon, who scored a 94th-minute winner against Athletic Club to advance.
Who could join them?
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That result pushed Real Madrid into the play-off round as they finished ninth, just ahead of last season’s finalists - Inter Milan and Paris Saint-Germain, who drew with Newcastle United as both sides failed to seize a top eight spot.
Those teams, as well as Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Atalanta and Bayer Leverkusen, finished in the top 16 so will be seeded in the play-off round draw, and will have home advantage in the second leg.
The eight unseeded teams will be Borussia Dortmund, Olympiacos, Club Brugge, Galatasaray, Monaco, Qarabag, Bodo/Glimt and Benfica, who sealed their spot in dramatic circumstances thanks to a 98th-minute header from goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin to beat Real Madrid 4-2 and leapfrog Marseille on goal difference.
The French side, as well as Pafos, Union Saint-Gilloise, PSV Eindhoven, Athletic Club, Napoli, Copenhagen, Ajax, Eintracht Frankfurt, Slavia Prague, Villarreal and Kairat Almaty have seen their European dreams end this season.
Who could we face?
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Each team’s position in the league will determine which teams they will face in the play-off round. As the teams who finished ninth and 10th, Real Madrid and Inter Milan will be paired, and will play the teams who finished in the last two qualifying spots - Bodo/Glimt in 23rd and Benfica in 24th. That process is repeated for the other seven ties.
However, the top eight qualifiers have also been placed into the bracket at the last 16 stage, and as the team who finished first in the table, we know we will face one of the sides that finished between 15th and 18th spot.
Those clubs are Atalanta, Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund and Olympiacos.
When will we know our opponents?
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The draw to determine the play-off round matchups will take place on Friday at 11am UK time, when our potential pool of opponents will drop to two.
The first leg of the play-off round will take place on February 17-18, followed by the second leg on February 24-25. After that, we’ll know who our opponent will be. There will then be another draw on February 27 to plot out the remaining fixtures for the rest of the knockout stages, and allow us to map out a route to the final.
The last-16 gets underway in March, with the first leg away from home on 10-11th, before we host our opponents at Emirates Stadium on 17-18 March.
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