After a frantic night on which all 36 Champions League teams played at the same time, Arsenal and Liverpool now have a much clearer picture of who they will face in the last 16.

Both sides were assured of their places in the knockout stage even before a ball was kicked on Wednesday night. Arsenal made a host of changes but still beat Girona 2-1 in Spain, while Liverpool's youngsters lost 3-2 at PSV Eindhoven.

Barcelona's draw with Atalanta means that Liverpool top the table with seven wins and a defeat. Bypassing the need for a play-off, they will face either the 15th, 16th, 17th or 18th-place team, depending on how the play-offs unfold.

Arne Slot's side are therefore in line to play either Paris Saint-Germain, Benfica, AS Monaco or Brest.

Arsenal finished third in the standings with six wins, a draw and a defeat. Like Liverpool, the strong finish has boosted their chances of earning a favourable last-16 draw.

Mikel Arteta's players will face either the 13th, 14th, 19th or 20th-place team. The Gunners are therefore on course to face AC Milan, PSV, Feyenoord or Juventus.

The pool of four potential teams will be narrowed down to two in the knockout phase play-off draw on Friday. Then, once the play-offs have been contested, the draw for the last 16 itself will be made on February 21, with the two-legged knockout ties pencilled in for March.

Liverpool will naturally be keen to avoid a daunting meeting with PSG, who beat Manchester City 4-2 last week. Arsenal, meanwhile, may be eager to dodge a showdown with Italian giants AC Milan and Juventus.

Three out of four Premier League teams secured automatic qualification, with Aston Villa scraping into the top eight courtesy of a 4-2 win at home to Celtic. Having finished eighth, they are in line to play either Atalanta, Borussia Dortmund, Sporting or Club Brugge in the last 16.

Manchester City were the only English club to let the side down. They stood no chance of securing an automatic spot going into their final match, but they did what they had to with a 3-1 comeback victory over Club Brugge at the Etihad Stadium, which landed them a play-off tie.

Pep Guardiola and his players will need no psyching up for a mouthwatering clash against either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich. If City get through that, they will face either Atletico Madrid or Bayer Leverkusen in the last 16.