Champions League permutations: Who's at risk of early exit as league phase ends?

The league phase of the UEFA Champions League ends this evening as matchday eight takes place around Europe with kick-off set for 8pm in all 18 matches.

Even with seven matchdays done and dusted, there is still plenty to be decided on the final evening of the league phase and there are a number of massive clubs in serious danger of exiting the competition at the first hurdle.

Here are all the permutations heading into the final round of games this evening.

How many teams go through?

First off, a quick reminder of how many teams progress in this new format.

Of the 36 teams in the competition, 24 will progress to the knockout stages.

Teams that finish in the top eight (1-8), will qualify automatically for the round of 16.

If a club finishes in spots 9-24, they will progress to a play-off round, where they will face another team that finished between 9th and 24th in a two-legged tie. The winner of that tie will progress to the round of 16.

A club's seeding is based on their finish in the league phase, so they higher up in the table you finish, the better seeding you will receive.

Table as it stands before play on Wednesday

What teams have qualified for the last-8?

There are only two sides that have already secured automatic qualification for the last-8 of the competition and they are Liverpool and Barcelona.

What teams have already secured a top-24 spot and progress to a play-off?

Arsenal, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, AC Milan, Atalanta, Bayer Leverkusen, Aston Villa, Monaco, Feyenoord, Lille, Brest, Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Juventus, Celtic are all guaranteed a play-off.

How many teams have been eliminated?

Bologna, Sparta Prague, Leipzig, Girona, Red Star Belgrade, Sturm Graz, Salzburg, Slovan Bratislava, Young Boys can't finish inside the top-24.

Ok, so who is at risk of crashing out?

Every team that is on 11 points of fewer could miss out on a play-off place if results go against them.

This means that all of PSV, Club Brugge, Benfica, PSG, Sporting, Stuttgart, Manchester City, Dinamo Zagreb, Shakhtar Donetsk could still be eliminated.

However, if results go their way, each team listed above can also go through.

For PSV and Club Brugge, a draw will guarantee them a place in the top-24.

Benfica, PSG, Sporting and Stuttgart will all go through with a win, but a draw might be enough depending on results elsewhere.

Manchester City, Dinamo Zagreb and Shakhtar Donetsk need to win and hope a team on 11 points or fewer (PSV, Club Brugge, Benfica, PSG, Sporting, Stuttgart) lose their match.

What about Manchester City and PSG?

For both City and PSG, the task is simple: Win.

Victory will secure a top-24 berth for both. Pep Guardiola's side host Club Brugge at home, while PSG travel to Stuttgart in need of a win just one week on from their comeback victory over City in Paris.

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