Who could Liverpool, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Man City and Celtic face in UEFA Champions League play-offs and last 16?

Fans have been treated to goals galore in this season’s UEFA Champions League – now things are about to heat up once again as the draw for the knockout phase play-offs loom.

It has been a season of firsts in the Champions League, with the inaugural play-off round set to get underway in February.

The draw must take place first though, and with that in mind, here is everything you need to know about the next step on the road to Munich.

The draw will be held at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland, which is UEFA’s headquarters.

The fixtures themselves will be played over two weeks, with the first legs set to take place on February 11 and 12 before the second legs on February 18 and 19.

British clubs Manchester City and Celtic have the same two possible opponents in the UEFA Champions League knockout phase play-offs after finishing 22nd and 21st.

The Scottish giants and the Premier League champions will face either face 15-time winners Real Madrid or German icons Bayern Munich after they finished 11th and 12th.

While the top eight sides will not find out their opponents until the last 16 draw on February 21, the bracket format means they have four possible opponents.

Liverpool finished top of the league phase standings, but there are no easy games in the UEFA Champions League, and they will now face one of Monaco, Brest, Paris Saint-Germain or Benfica.

Arsenal ended their league phase campaign in third, and will take on one of Feyenoord, Juventus, AC Milan or PSV Eindhoven when their campaign resumes

Aston Villa secured their spot in the top eight with an entertaining 4-2 triumph over Celtic, and will now face a mouth-watering encounter with one of Atalanta, Borussia Dortmund, Sporting Lisbon or Club Brugge in the last 16.

The top eight sides in the league phase table will progress automatically to the last 16, meaning only the teams that finished between ninth and 24th will be included in the play-off draw.

Teams that finished between ninth and 16th place will be seeded while the teams that were placed between 17th and 24th will be unseeded.

Unlike a traditional UEFA knockout draw – where any seed can meet any unseeded team – the competition adopts a bracket format from the play-off stage onwards.

There is still a draw, but potential opponents are reduced to two options. For example, teams finishing ninth and 10th can only be drawn against teams finishing 23rd and 24th; teams finishing 11th and 12th can only be drawn against teams finishing 21st and 22nd; and so on…

With only two teams in each pot, the first side selected is put on the silver side of the bracket and the other team placed on the blue side of the bracket.

Teams that draw each other will go head-to-head across two legs, with the winners progressing to the last 16.  

The seeded clubs will play the return leg of their draw at home.

Seeded teams: Atalanta, Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, AC Milan, PSV, PSG, Benfica

Unseeded teams: Monaco, Brest, Feyenoord, Juventus, Celtic, Manchester City, Sporting Lisbon, Club Brugge

Yes, sides can face another team from the same national association from the knockout phase play-offs onwards.

Intriguingly, they can also face teams they played during the league phase.