Champions League play-offs explained as Man City face nightmare fixture scenario

Manchester City could be set for five crucial fixtures across just 14 days in February that could ultimately define their season. Pep Guardiola's side have significantly struggled for consistency over the last few months with just five wins since late October.

The champions look to have turned a corner however, with four of those triumphs coming from their last five games in all competitions. City are in fact unbeaten since Boxing Day and though there have been some disappointing draws in that time, 22 goals have been scored while three clean sheets have also been kept.

Those positive results have arrived at the perfect time it would appear with City about to enter into a challenging run of fixtures which starts with a crucial Champions League match against Paris Saint-Germain. Both clubs are at risk of being eliminated from the league phase with City in 24th, the final play-off spot, and PSG two places below.

The top eight are guaranteed a spot in the last-16 with two of those spaces having already been filled by Liverpool and Barcelona. The following 16 teams will then battle it out in a play-off round to complete the line-up for the first knockout stage.

Defeat in France would place City's chances of qualification in huge doubt before their final European league game at home to Club Brugge. Qualifying automatically, while still possible, is highly unlikely as Aston Villa currently occupy the final spot on 13 points while City are on a tally of eight.

The most likely scenario is that City have to navigate the play-off phase and that presents a busy fixture schedule. With the first leg of that round to be played on either Tuesday, February 11 or Wednesday, February 12 and the second leg to follow seven days later,