Manchester City Advances to UEFA Champions League Playoffs After 3-1 Victory Over Club Brugge
Manchester City secured their place in the UEFA Champions League playoffs with a 3-1 win over Club Brugge on Wednesday at Etihad Stadium. The match saw an early lead for Club Brugge when Raphael Onyedika scored in the 45th minute, but Manchester City responded quickly with Mateo Kovacic’s equalizer in the 53rd minute. A 62nd-minute own goal from Joel Ordonez gave City the lead, and Savinho sealed the victory with a close-range finish in the 77th minute.
With this result, Manchester City finished the League Phase with 11 points, securing 22nd place, while Club Brugge, also on 11 points, advanced to the playoffs in 24th place. Liverpool, who had won all their matches in the previous seven weeks, lost their undefeated record with a 3-2 defeat to PSV Eindhoven but still finished first in the league phase with 21 points.
The following eight teams progressed directly to the Round of 16: Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Lille, and Aston Villa. The teams placed ninth to 24th entered the playoff round to compete for a spot in the Round of 16. Eliminated teams include Dinamo Zagreb, Stuttgart, Shakhtar Donetsk, and others.
