When is Champions League play-off draw and next round of fixtures amid Man City wait

Manchester City secured their spot in the Champions League knockout phase play-off on Wednesday with a turnaround win over Club Brugge at the Etihad Stadium.

Second half goals from Mateo Kovacic, an own goal from Joel Ordonez and Savinho meant Pep Guardiola's men escaped a potential early exit in the competition.

The win means City will enter the knockout stages of the tournament via a play-off. They join the likes of Atalanta, Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain.

Here, MEN Sport look at what the future holds for City in the play-offs..

How does the new format work?

The 36-club league has been split into four pots, based on European coefficiency rankings, with every team facing two teams from each pot.

Wednesday night will see all 36 sides compete in their final fixture at 8pm to finalise the league standings. The clubs finishing in the top eight spots will advance to the round of 16.

Teams ranked from ninth to 24th in the table will be entered into a knockout play-off to determine who else enters the last 16. They will compete in a two-legged knockout phase play-off to secure their spot.

From the knockout phase play-offs onwards, the tournament is a bracket. The teams that finish the league phase between ninth and 16th will be seeded for the first draw for the knockout phase and will face a team placed 17th to 24th. The seeded team will, in principle, play the return leg at home.

When is the draw for the play-off round and round of 16?

The 2024/25 UEFA Champions League knockout phase play-off draw takes place from 11am on January 31. The fixtures will be played over the course of two weeks with the first legs kicking off on February 11 / 12 and the return legs taking place on February 18 / 19.

The winners of the play-offs will then be added to the last 16 draw, alongside the league phase's top eight teams, which will be held on February 21.

The last 16 first legs are scheduled to be played on March 4 / 5 and the second legs will be played on March 11 / 12.

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Manchester City wrapped up the 2023/24 season with a fourth successive Premier League title, but they missed out on another Treble with defeat in the FA Cup final and Champions League quarter-finals. It's now time for Pep Guardiola and co to turn their attention to the transfer window.

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