Much has changed in this season's Champions League, the knockout play-off phase being one major new introduction

Pep Guardiola’s side would have been among the favourites to win the competition outright before a ball was kicked this season but are sat 24th in the Champions League table heading into tonight’s huge clash at Paris Saint-Germain.

Liverpool manager Arne Slot says, finishing in the top eight and avoiding two playoff games in the Champions League is the most important thing. This was after Liverpool narrowly missed clinching the top spot with a game to spare in the Champions League despite a 2-1 defeat of French side Lille on Tuesday.

A year of unprecedented pressures on the global football calendar begins with a Champions League first, as two rounds of matches in Europe's elite club competition take place in January and some of the continent's biggest names face a scrap to avoid a humiliating exit.

Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Aston Villa and Celtic feature in new Champions League format; 36 teams form a single league, with each entrant playing eight different clubs, four at home and four away;

It is just the third time an English team has won their opening seven matches of a European Cup or Champions League campaign, with two of those being done by Liverpool (2021-22 and 2024-25 - along wit

Top eight advance directly to Round of 16. Teams ranked 9-24 will compete in knockout round play-offs to determine the remaining spots in the last 16.