Newcastle United’s chances of a place in the Champions League knockout phase ended with defeat by AC Milan.
Paris Saint-Germain failed to beat Borussia Dortmund to open the door but Milan’s victory on Tyneside in the final game meant Eddie Howe’s side failed to make it into the last 16.
Manchester United’s own Champions League journey was also ended in the group stage.
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A thrilling 3-3 draw at Galatasaray, where they let a two-goal lead slip twice, left their progress to the last 16 out of their hands and defeat to Bayern Munich at Old Trafford sealed their fate.
Arsenal, meanwhile, topped their group with a game to spare, as did defending champions Manchester City.
Here is who made it through — and who didn’t.
GO DEEPER
Is the Premier League still on course for an extra Champions League spot?
Group A
| Pos | Team | GP | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Bayern Munich (Q) | 6 | 6 | 16 |
2 | Copenhagen (Q) | 6 | 0 | 8 |
3 | Galatasaray | 6 | -3 | 5 |
4 | Manchester United | 6 | -3 | 4 |
As expected, Bayern Munich made light work of Group A and booked their place in the knockouts with two games to spare.
Manchester United were widely tipped to follow them through, but end bottom of the group after falling to defeat to Bayern at Old Trafford in their final game.
Galatasaray pip them to the Europa League spot with Copenhagen producing the shock to qualify in second place.
Group B
| Pos | Team | GP | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Arsenal (Q) | 6 | 12 | 13 |
2 | PSV (Q) | 6 | -2 | 9 |
3 | Lens | 6 | -5 | 8 |
4 | Sevilla | 6 | -5 | 2 |
Arsenal’s thrashing of Lens at Emirates Stadium secured top spot in the group with a game to spare.
PSV Eindhoven followed them into the knockout phase in second place with the French side securing third place and the Europa League qualifying spot.
That means Europa League specialists and current holders, Sevilla, miss out on a return to their favourite competition.
Group C
| Pos | Team | GP | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Real Madrid (Q) | 6 | 9 | 18 |
2 | Napoli (Q) | 6 | 1 | 10 |
3 | Braga | 6 | -6 | 4 |
4 | Union Berlin | 6 | -4 | 2 |
14-time winners Real Madrid cruised into the knockouts for the 26th successive season with six wins from six.
Napoli’s win over Braga in their final game meant they joined the Spaniards in the last 16.
The Portuguese side can console themselves with the Europa League, however, with Union Berlin’s first foray into Champions League football ending with plenty of memories but only two points.
Group D
| Pos | Team | GP | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Real Sociedad (Q) | 6 | 5 | 12 |
2 | Inter Milan (Q) | 6 | 3 | 12 |
3 | Red Bull Salzburg | 6 | -4 | 4 |
4 | Benfica | 6 | -4 | 4 |
Real Sociedad and Inter Milan secured their qualifications to the knockouts on matchday four with their draw in the final game earning the Spanish side top spot.
The Italians will now lurk as one of the more dangerous options in the runners-up pot in the draw.
In the race for third, Red Bull Salzburg squeezed past Benfica to earn the Europa League spot.
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Group E
| Pos | Team | GP | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Atletico Madrid (Q) | 6 | 11 | 14 |
2 | Lazio (Q) | 6 | 0 | 10 |
3 | Feyenoord | 6 | -1 | 6 |
4 | Celtic | 6 | -10 | 4 |
Atletico Madrid and Lazio secured their passage to the knockouts with Feyenoord in third, dropping into the Europa League, all after five rounds of matches.
Diego Simeone’s side secured top spot with a win over the Italians in the final group game.
Celtic didn’t have much to show but did manage a win over Feyenoord in their last game to at least bow out with one victory.
Group F
| Pos | Team | GP | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Borussia Dortmund (Q) | 6 | 3 | 11 |
2 | Paris Saint-Germain (Q) | 6 | 1 | 8 |
3 | AC Milan | 6 | -3 | 8 |
4 | Newcastle | 6 | -1 | 5 |
The ‘Group of Death’ lived up to its billing so far this season.
There was drama throughout with Borussia Dortmund eventually emerging as victors.
Second place went down to the wire with Paris Saint-Germain prevailing via head-to-head record over AC Milan, who themselves grabbed the Europa League spot on the final night of games.
Newcastle, who threatened to qualify themselves and came within minutes of beating PSG in Paris, end their campaign bottom and out of Europe.
Group G
| Pos | Team | GP | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Manchester City (Q) | 6 | 11 | 18 |
2 | RB Leipzig (Q) | 6 | 3 | 12 |
3 | Young Boys | 6 | -6 | 4 |
4 | Red Star Belgrade | 6 | -8 | 1 |
Defending champions Manchester City made it six wins from six to qualify as group winners with relative ease.
RB Leipzig followed them into the knockout phase as runners up.
Young Boys’ win against Red Star Belgrade on match day five meant it is they who secured the Europa League spot.
Group H
| Pos | Team | GP | GD | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Barcelona (Q) | 6 | 6 | 12 |
2 | Porto (Q) | 6 | 7 | 12 |
3 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 6 | -2 | 9 |
4 | Antwerp | 6 | -11 | 3 |
Barcelona secured their last-16 place in matchday five before a shock defeat at Antwerp in the final game.
Porto and Shakhtar Donetsk met in the final group game with the Portuguese side advancing in second place after an impressive 5-3 win.
Shakhtar drop into the Europa League.
Antwerp boss Mark van Bommel held the record of being the only coach to go winless in his first 15 Champions League games (a record spanning his spells at PSV and Wolfsburg as well as in Belgium) before finally breaking his duck against Barca.
What were the tiebreakers?
UEFA have a number of criteria to separate teams who end the group stage on equal points.
- higher number of points obtained in the group matches played among the teams in question;
- superior goal difference from the group matches played among the teams in question;
- higher number of goals scored in the group matches played among the teams in question;
- if, after having applied criteria 1) to 3), teams still have an equal ranking, criteria 1) to 3) are reapplied exclusively to the matches between the remaining teams to determine their final rankings. If this procedure does not lead to a decision, criteria 5) to 11) apply in the order given to the two or more teams still equal;
- superior goal difference in all group matches;
- higher number of goals scored in all group matches;
- higher number of away goals scored in all group matches;
- higher number of wins in all group matches;
- higher number of away wins in all group matches;
- lower disciplinary points total based only on yellow and red cards received by players and team officials in all group matches (red card = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point, expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points);
- higher club coefficient
When does the 2023-24 knockout stage start?
The two-legged last-16 ties will take place across February and March.
This season’s competition will conclude at Wembley next June.
Round of 16: February 13/14/20/21 and March 5/6/12/13, 2024
Quarter-finals: April 9/10 and 16/17, 2024
Semi-finals: April 30/May 1 and May 7/8, 2024
Final: June 1, 2024
(Top photo: Michael Steele/Getty Images))