Liverpool, Manchester City and Barcelona secure Champions League knockout spots

On Wednesday, Liverpool, Manchester City, and Barcelona earned direct entry to the Champions League last 16, whereas the title holders Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid could not clinch a position in the leading eight.

The English Premier League title holders Liverpool dominated Qarabag with a 6-0 victory during the concluding eighth round of the league phase at Anfield, ending up in third position in the 36-team standings after Arsenal and Bayern Munich had already qualified.

Tottenham, Barcelona, Chelsea, Sporting Lisbon, and Manchester City also advanced to the knockout stage alongside them.

However, the defending champions PSG must navigate the knockout play-off round once more, similar to their path to success in the previous season, following a 1-1 draw at home against Newcastle.

The 15-time record champions Real Madrid similarly fell short of automatic qualification for the last 16, suffering a 4-2 defeat away at Benfica under their former manager Jose Mourinho, where Benfica claimed the final play-off position via a dramatic 98th-minute header from goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin.

Liverpool took an early advantage over Qarabag through a somewhat untidy effort by Alexis Mac Allister, followed by Florian Wirtz adding a second goal neatly.

Mohamed Salah bent the ball into the net from outside the penalty area after Dominik Szoboszlai had nodded on a free kick just after the interval, and Hugo Ekitike sprinted through to extend the lead to four.

Mac Allister netted his second of the match, with substitute Federico Chiesa providing the finishing touch to the comprehensive win.

"Hopefully (we can reach) the final," Mac Allister shared with uefa.com. "We know what we're capable of."

Manchester City, the 2023 Champions League victors, comfortably defeated Galatasaray 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium to secure eighth place, thanks to strikes from Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki.

Barcelona, who reached the semi-finals in the prior campaign, overturned a deficit to triumph 4-1 over FC Copenhagen at the Camp Nou, concluding fifth in the overall standings.

The Catalan side were caught off guard by a goal in the fourth minute from 17-year-old Viktor Dadason, but Robert Lewandowski restored parity soon after the break.

Lamine Yamal gave Barcelona the lead with a shot that deflected heavily, then Raphinha converted from the penalty spot in the 69th minute, and Marcus Rashford sealed the qualification with a late free kick to confirm the Spanish champions' progression.

Tottenham overcame already eliminated Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 on German soil to claim fourth spot, with goals coming from forwards Randal Kolo Muani and Dominic Solanke.

Chelsea ensured five English clubs progressed directly to the last 16 by defeating Serie A champions Napoli 3-2, eliminating the Italian outfit from the tournament.

Enzo Fernandez opened the scoring for Chelsea via a penalty, yet Antonio Vergara marked his debut goal for Napoli to spark hopes of a comeback to the knockout stages.

The home side Napoli turned the game around by halftime as Rasmus Hojlund fired in from close range.

Nevertheless, Joao Pedro's brace in the second half eliminated them from the top 24 spots, beginning with a powerful shot and ending with a composed effort on the break.

Sporting Lisbon emerged as an unexpected top-eight qualifier by rallying twice to edge Athletic Bilbao 3-2 away.

Real encounter play-offs following goalkeeper heroics

Real Madrid went ahead versus Benfica when Kylian Mbappe nodded in his 12th goal of the Champions League season this term.

Benfica responded before halftime with efforts from Andreas Schjelderup and Vangelis Pavlidis from the spot.

Schjelderup added another early in the second half with a driven shot, though Mbappe pulled one back for Real, meaning Benfica required one more goal to overtake Marseille for the final play-off place.

In added time, both Raul Asencio and Rodrygo received red cards, reducing Real to nine players, and Trubin delivered a stunning header from a free kick on the final play of the match.

Real now await a potential rematch against Benfica or a matchup with Bodo/Glimt, who prevailed 2-1 at Atletico Madrid, in the upcoming round.

"I think we were far from the level we need to show," commented new Madrid manager Alvaro Arbeloa.

Newcastle and PSG both head to the play-offs, facing either Qarabag or Monaco, after their even contest at the Parc des Princes.

Nick Pope produced a superb stop to deny Ousmane Dembele from the penalty spot, but PSG went on to lead via Vitinha's low effort from distance.

Newcastle remained competitive and levelled in stoppage time of the first half, with Joe Willock timing his run to head in Dan Burn's knockdown.

"It's always difficult when you have expectations to be in the top eight," PSG manager Luis Enrique remarked to TNT Sports.

"Newcastle is a very good side... But we need to improve."

Inter and Juve fall short of top eight

Inter Milan could not lock in a top-eight finish despite beating Borussia Dortmund 2-0, just as Juventus managed only a 0-0 result away to Monaco.

Atletico, Atalanta, Bayer Leverkusen, Dortmund, Olympiacos, Club Brugge, and Galatasaray join the play-off draw.

Arsenal completed a perfect record of eight victories from eight games by overcoming Kairat Almaty 4-1 to take first place, while Bayern Munich defeated PSV Eindhoven 2-1 with a decisive goal from Harry Kane, ousting the Dutch team from contention.