Which teams can qualify for the Champions League last 16? How do things stand? Latest table, scenarios

Well, the new UEFA Champions League format has delivered exactly what it intended to: more drama and suspense.

33 of the 36 teams are still in the hunt to reach the last 16.

MORE — Champions League schedule

With six of eight matchweeks in the books in the 36-team League Phase and a break until the end of January for the final two matchweeks to be played, there are only a handful of teams either flying at the top or cut adrift at the bottom.

The rest is chaos, as there are just three points between Arsenal in third place and Club Brugge in 19th with up to 24 teams still in the hunt for seemingly six spots in the top eight. Securing a top eight finish means direct passage to the last 16, while tams who finish ninth to 24th will play in a two-legged playoff for the prize to reach the last 16.

MORE — Will Liverpool, Villa, Arsenal and City reach the last 16?

Below we take a look at which teams have qualified for a spot in the last 16, who has been knocked out, the table and more.

Which teams have qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League 16?

With two games to go nobody has qualified automatically to reach the last 16 by sealing a top eight spot. But plenty of teams are close.

Liverpool and Barcelona are guaranteed at least a top 24 finish, so they’ve already qualified for the a spot in the playoff round at the very least.

Arsenal, Bayer Leverkusen, Aston Villa, Inter Milan, Brest and Lille currently occupy the remaining spots in the top eight and a win in their next game could seal their spot in the last 16 as they will avoid having to play in a the playoff round.

How does the Champions League League Phase work?

Each team will play eight games in the new league phase of the tournament, against eight different teams. Four games at home and four away. Teams were ranked in to one of four pots and each team will play against two teams from each of the four pots. Teams will play one match at home and one match away against a team from each pot.

The top eight teams in the league phase will qualify for the Round of 16 automatically, while the teams who finish in positions 9-24 will qualify for the playoff round. Teams who finish 9-16 will be seeded for the playoffs, while teams in positions 17-24 will be unseeded. Teams who finish in positions 25-36 will be eliminated from the Champions League and will not play in any other European competition for the rest of the 2024-25 season.

The eight teams who advance from the knockout round will then face one of the teams who finished in positions 1-8 in the league phase in the Round of 16, and from then on the tournament will be a normal knockout format.

Which teams have been knocked out of the Champions League?

Young Boys, Slovan Bratislava and RB Leipzig have all been knocked out of the Champions League with all three teams losing all of their six games so far. That means with two games to go there’s no chance of them finishing in the top 24 teams and making it to the playoff round. The teams who finish in the bottom 12 positions of the League Phase are out of Europe altogether.

UEFA Champions League tables — Latest standings from 2024-25 league phase

• Top eight spots qualify directly for knockout rounds

• Positions 9-24 are matched up in two-legged playoff ties

• Positions 25-36 are eliminated from all European competitions

1. Liverpool — 6-0-0 — +23 GD — 18 points — Assured of at least a playoff spot (seeded)

2. Barcelona — 5-0-1 — +14 GD — 15 points — Assured of at least a playoff spot (unseeded)

3. Arsenal — 4-1-1 — +9 GD — 13 points

4. Bayer Leverkusen — 4-1-1 — +7 GD — 13 points

5. Aston Villa — 4-1-1 — +6 GD — 13 points

6. Inter Milan — 4-1-1 — +6 GD — 13 points

7. Brest — 4-1-1 — +4 GD — 13 points

8. Lille — 4-1-1 — +3 GD — 13 points

9. Borussia Dortmund — 4-0-2 — +9 GD — 12 points

10. Bayern Munich — 4-0-2 — +9 GD — 12 points

11. Atletico Madrid — 4-0-2 — +6 GD — 12 points

12. AC Milan — 4-0-2 — +3 GD — 12 points

13. Atalanta — 3-2-1 — +9 GD — 11 points

14. Juventus — 3-2-1 — +4 GD — 11 points

15. AS Monaco — 3-1-1 — +5 GD — 10 points

16. Benfica — 3-1-2 — +3 GD — 10 points

17. Sporting Lisbon — 3-1-2 — +2 GD — 10 points

18. Feyenoord — 3-1-2 — -1 GD — 10 points

19. Club Brugge — 3-1-2 — -2 GD — 10 points

20. Real Madrid — 3-0-3 — +1 GD — 9 points

21. Celtic — 2-3-1 — 0 GD — 9 points

22. Manchester City — 2-1-3 — +4 GD — 8 points

23. PSV Eindhoven — 2-2-2 — +2 GD — 8 points

24. Dinamo Zagreb — 2-2-2 — -5 GD — 8 points

25. Paris Saint-Germain — 2-1-3 — 0 GD — 7 points

26. Stuttgart — 2-1-3 — -3 GD — 7 points

27. Shakhtar Donetsk — 1-1-4 — -8 GD — 4 points — Can’t qualify for last 16 directly, but may reach playoff round (seeded)

28. Sparta Prague — 1-1-4 — -11 GD — 4 points — Can’t qualify for last 16 directly, but may reach playoff round (seeded)

29. Sturm Graz — 1-0-5 — -5 GD — 3 points — Can’t qualify for last 16 directly, but may reach playoff round (unseeded)

30. Girona — 1-0-5 — -6 GD — 3 points — Can’t qualify for last 16 directly, but may reach playoff round (unseeded)

31. Red Star Belgrade — 1-0-5 — -9 GD — 3 points — Can’t qualify for last 16 directly, but may reach playoff round (unseeded)

32. Red Bull Salzburg — 1-0-5 — -15 GD — 3 points — Can’t qualify for last 16 directly, but may reach playoff round (unseeded)

33. Bologna — 0-2-4 — -6 GD — 2 points — Can’t qualify for last 16 directly, but may reach playoff round (unseeded)

34. RB Leipzig — 0-0-6 — -7 GD — 0 points — Eliminated

35. Slovan Bratislava — 0-0-6 — -16 GD — 0 points — Eliminated

36. Young Boys — 0-0-6 — -19 GD — 0 points — Eliminated