The UEFA Champions League's first-ever league phase is over, and the knockout stage outlook is now much clearer. Manchester City avoided disaster, Liverpool topped the league-phase table, and we will get Manchester City against either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich in the playoffs.

United States men's national team striker Ricardo Pepi continues his scoring tear with a goal against Liverpool in the Champions League to give PSV the win. Savinho has given Manchester City life in the Champions League. His goal gives Man City a two-goal cushion over Brugge.

Instead of going straight into the traditional round of 16, the competition will feature a knockout phase play-off. In this stage, the teams that finished ninth to 16th in the group phase will face off against those that placed 17th to 24th, with each tie played over two legs.

With all 36 teams in action on Wednesday and sky-high stakes for some of Europe's leading clubs, the final first round matchday of the 2024-25 UEFA Champions League season didn't disappoint.

Manchester City nearly crashed out, but came from behind in the second half, and in the end, all European giants reached the knockout rounds of the Champions League.

Find out who leads the major statistical categories following the conclusion of the UEFA Champions League league phase.

Listen to Sportsound and follow live text updates of Celtic's final league phase fixture in the Champions League against Aston Villa.

The UEFA Champions League league phase concludes on Wednesday, Jan. 29 with all 36 clubs playing at the same time.

With the Champions League's revamped 'league' stage over, attention turns to the play-off round, which takes place in two weeks

Enjoy live updates of games from Wednesday's final day of the Champions League league phase as we find out which teams will qualify for the knockouts.