The UEFA Champions League knockout round draw is Friday, with 24 of Europe's top soccer clubs entering the playoff phase. Here's what to know.

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

The Champions League is down to 24 teams, and yes, giants such as Man City and Paris Saint-Germain made it through in the end. Let's review the league phase and the best XI, and project who's winning it all.

Knockout phase places are up for grabs as the inaugural league phase of the UEFA Champions League reaches a dramatic conclusion. UEFA.com takes a look at the key storylines from every fixture as the final league phase table is decided. All matches kick off at 21:00 CET.

It's going to be a wild day of soccer as Wednesday will see 18 Champions League matches kick off simultaneously. As the league phase comes to an end, all of those matches, except two, will have a direct impact on who makes it into the playoff stage and who is on the outside looking in.

Here's a look at some of the numbers that tell the story of how the first season in the new-look format has gone: The number of games in the 36-team league phase, up from 96 last year in the old 32-team group format.

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.