UEFA Champions League: 5 key games on MD8 – Can Man City and PSG avoid embarrassing exits? Will Villa make top eight?
Published 27/01/2025 at 11:19 GMT
The league phase format of the UEFA Champions League is reaching its first-ever final day, and there are pulsating plotlines aplenty to follow. A number of European heavyweights have laboured in the competition's new structure, with Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain chief among them. City must win to stave off an early exit, while there is also a big Battle of Britain at Villa Park.
Highlights: Man City on UCL brink after astonishing PSG comeback
Video credit: TNT Sports
Primed for a night of fluctuating, multi-screen drama?
TNT Sports and discovery+ will be your place to be as the UEFA Champions League gets set for its first-ever league-phase finale on Wednesday 29 January, as the competition's 36 teams play their eighth and final game.
With the nuts and bolts of the denouement explained here, we now look at the five potentially most significant games on the last night...
Man City v Club Brugge
The equation is very simple for Manchester City ahead of their final league phase tie with Club Brugge - win and they are through.
This is because, conveniently, Pep Guardiola's side sit one spot outside the play-off qualification spots, and therefore victory over their Belgian opponents - who are three points ahead with a worse goal difference - would see City jump up the single place they need to avoid an embarrassing early exit.
Any other result, however, and City are out.
Aston Villa v Celtic
After Manchester United beat Rangers in the UEFA Europa League, another Anglo-Scottish Battle of Britain is on the cards at Villa Park - and this one could have huge ramifications.
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The Villains went off like a train in this year's Champions League but have slowed to such an extent that they now sit one spot outside the automatic top-eight qualification places.
Can they charge back into the reckoning with another big night at home? Even victory might not be enough to avoid the play-offs - for which they are guaranteed a place - as if all of Atletico Madrid, AC Milan, Atalanta and Leverkusen win their games, then Villa will have to settle for a berth outside the first eight (unless they can leapfrog Leverkusen on goal difference).
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Highlights: Celtic reach knockout stage for first time since 2013
Video credit: TNT Sports
Celtic, for their part, are still bouncing from their narrow win over Young Boys, and in some ways the hard work is done with their play-off place secured.
However, any points gained from their trip to Villa could send them towards a seeded rank (9-16th in the final table) for the play-offs, but is that a poisoned chalice with City and PSG possibly lying in wait as their first knockout opponents?
Stuttgart v PSG
Is there a twist in the tale of PSG's UCL campaign?
After stunning City with their comeback win on matchday seven, it feels like the French champions have momentum on their side to make the play-offs.
Even a draw against Stuttgart would be enough for Luis Enrique's side to make it through, but a loss could be catastrophic with the sides below them - including City - ready to pounce.
Should they make it through, there is likely the considerable fillip of being able to call on new January signing Kvicha Kvaratskhelia in the knockout rounds, which would make PSG a team most will want to avoid.
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Scenes of joy at Parc des Princes as fourth PSG goal is given to put seal on comeback
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Brest v Real Madrid
What can Real Madrid pull out of the hat on the final matchday?
It's been a Jekyll and Hyde Champions League so far for the reigning champions, as chaotic defeats to Liverpool and Lille have been followed by two consecutive victories that have secured them a play-off spot.
It's all ominously familiar as Los Blancos appear to be finding form for the second half of the season, no one more so than Kylian Mbappe, who scored in the win over Red Bull Salzburg and who looks more and more at home under the Bernabeu glare.
Sitting eight places outside the top eight, an automatic qualification place looks very unlikely - but when there's a chance...
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Watch as magical Bellingham backheel sets up 'sensational' Rodrygo second for Real Madrid
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Brest, meanwhile, have been one of the surprise packages of the competition to date, winning four from seven and sitting pretty in a guaranteed play-off position.
Can they pull off what would be their biggest win by far and push Madrid down into the bottom half of the play-off rankings?
Dinamo Zagreb v AC Milan
One of the fascinating developments in the league phase is the number of teams that still have something to play for on the final matchday.
For Dinamo, this is certainly the case, as even though they sit 26th - level with City on eight points - a win could see them sensationally make the play-offs.
It would need a host of other results to go their way, but given how it could shake up the play-off shakedown, eyes will be drawn to the Maksimir Stadium as Milan - themselves sweating on a top-eight spot - need a positive result to aid their hopes of automatic progression.
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'There's no stopping that' - Leao fires into roof of net to give AC Milan lead
Video credit: TNT Sports
Full list of matchday 8 fixtures
Wednesday, January 29 - all 8pm UK time
- Dinamo Zagreb v AC Milan
- Inter v Monaco
- Barcelona v Atalanta
- Bayer Leverkusen v Sparta Prague
- Sturm Graz v RB Leipzig
- Red Bull Salzburg v Atletico Madrid
- Lille v Feyenoord
- Young Boys v Crvenz Zvezda
- Aston Villa v Celtic
- Bayern Munich v Slovan Bratislava
- Sporting v Bologna
- Borussia Dortmund v Shakhtar Donetsk
- PSV v Liverpool
- Stuttgart v Paris Saint-Germain
- Girona v Arsenal
- Brest v Real Madrid
- Juventus v Benfica
- Man City v Club Brugge
How to watch Matchday 8 in the UEFA Champions League
All 18 matches will be available to watch live on TNT Sports and discovery+ on Wednesday, January 29.
TNT Sports will bring you extensive coverage from all the important matches and you can see all the goals as they fly in, with all 18 matches played concurrently on a bumper night of fixtures.
TNT Sports is available across all major TV platforms, offering a line-up of up to four TV channels (TNT Sports 1, TNT Sports 2, TNT Sports 3, TNT Sports 4), and up to six digital or red-button channels (TNT Sports 5 to 10), and TNT Sports Ultimate plus TNT Sports Box Office HD.
The streaming home for TNT Sports in the UK is discovery+, where fans can enjoy a subscription that includes TNT Sports, Eurosport and entertainment in one destination.
You can also watch TNT Sports through BT, EE, Sky, and Virgin Media. To find out where your local establishments showing TNT Sports are, use our Pub Finder Tool.
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Stream the final league-phase UEFA Champions League matchday on discovery+
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