Champions League: Who Is In The Round Of 16? Who Is In The Playoffs? Who Is Out?
If Paris Saint-Germain are going to repeat as Champions League winners, they're going to have to do it via the knockout playoffs.
PSG failed to finish in the top eight after Thursday's final matchday of the 36-team league phase, meaning the French side will be among teams that have to play two extra games in February to remain alive.
The teams that did finish in the top eight and therefore can rest easy until March? Those are five Premier League sides (Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea, Manchester City) joined by Bayern Munich, Barcelona, and Sporting Lisbon.
PSG will be joined by Real Madrid, Newcastle and last year’s beaten finalist Inter Milan as among the teams that finished 9th through 24th. Those 16 teams will be drawn against each other for a two-legged knockout in March. The teams that finished ninth through 16th will be seeded, while 17th through 24th teams will be unseeded. The draw for the knockout playoff phase will be held on Friday.
The eight winners of the matchups will then join those top eight teams to complete the Round of 16, which will be played in March across two legs. The two-legged semifinals will be held in April and the final will be on May 30 in Budapest.
The teams that finished at the bottom of the table and were eliminated include: Marseille, Pafos, Union Saint-Gilloise, PSV Eindhoven, Athletic Bilbao, Napoli, FC Copenhagen, Ajax, Eintracht Frankfurt, Slavia Prague, Villarreal, and Kairat.
The scenarios for the knockout playoff phase will be as follows:


