Champions League set for dramatic finale - how it stands

The inaugural Champions League league phase is set for a exciting final day with 25 of the 36 teams still awaiting their fate.

All 18 games will be played at the same time - at 20:00 GMT on Wednesday, 29 January, with 16 matches having something on the line.

Manchester City are in major danger of elimination after Wednesday's collapse at Paris St-Germain, while Liverpool are through, Arsenal are almost there and Aston Villa and Celtic - who meet - are somewhere in between.

The 'as it stands' table will be constantly updating with teams' hopes potentially relying on other results.

It marks the first season of the new format, compared with the old four-team groups with two going through - where sometimes there was nothing to play for by the end.

First, here's a reminder of what the 36 league-phase teams are aiming for.

Those finishing in the top eight automatically progress to the last 16, where they will be seeded.

They will await the winners of eight two-legged knockout play-off ties featuring the clubs ranked from ninth to 24th.

Those finishing between ninth and 16th will be seeded and face a team placed 17th to 24th, with the advantage of playing the second leg at home.

The clubs 25th or lower are eliminated and do not gain entry to the Europa League.

The play-off ties take place mid-February, with the last-16 matches in the first two weeks of March.

Top-eight guaranteed: Liverpool, Barcelona

Top-24 guaranteed (at least): Arsenal, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, AC Milan, Atalanta, Bayer Leverkusen, Aston Villa, Monaco, Feyenoord, Lille, Brest, Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Juventus, Celtic

Uncertain of progression: PSV, Club Brugge, Benfica, PSG, Sporting, Stuttgart, Manchester City, Dinamo Zagreb, Shakhtar Donetsk

Eliminated: Bologna, Sparta Prague, Leipzig, Girona, Red Star Belgrade, Sturm Graz, Salzburg, Slovan Bratislava, Young Boys

Manchester City have a very simple permutation. If they beat Club Brugge at home they will go into the play-off round. If they fail to win they will be eliminated.

They cannot reach the last 16 automatically.

Aston Villa are guaranteed at least a play-off place.

A win at home to Celtic would give them a good chance of finishing in the top eight, though they would need one of five teams above them to slip up.

But also four teams are only below Villa on goal difference so a big win for one of those sides could see them overtake Villa too.

Celtic are only one point behind Villa so could conceivably finish in the top eight, but they would need to win and for a lot of things to happen above them.

Arsenal - away at Girona - are all but in the last 16 as they sit three points clear of the play-offs with a much better goal difference than any team on 13 points.

Liverpool are one of two teams, along with Barcelona, who know they are in the last 16 already, and will be guaranteed a top-two place.

Bayern Munich and Real Madrid are among the giants in the positions between ninth and 24th hoping for things to go their way to end up in the top eight.

Definitely.

Where a team finishes in the league table determines which opponents they face and when they can face them in the knockout stage.

Take Liverpool for example. The Reds are now guaranteed a top-two finish, which gives them a seeded route through to the last 16.

That means the Reds will face a team who finished 15th, 16th, 17th or 18th in the last 16.

The identity of the team will not be known until after the play-offs, but the pre-determined draw means it will be the winner of the ties involving teams that finish in those four places.

Liverpool cannot face the team who finishes second in the league phase - or whoever finishes top if they are overtaken on the final matchday - until the final.

By contrast, a team that finishes seventh or eighth could face a side that had finished just below them in the league phase - in ninth or 10th.

For more on who plays who in the play-offs, keep reading...

Teams that finish between ninth and 16th will be seeded in the knockout phase play-off draw.

It means they will face a team that finishes between 17th to 24th.

Who the seeded teams will face will be determined by a draw but clubs will only have two possible opponents.

For example, the teams that finish 11th and 12th are paired together and will play a team that finishes 21st or 22nd.

Another bracket will pair the teams that finish ninth and 10th in the table, playing either the team that was 23rd or 24th.

The two pairs of fixtures will be drawn into opposite halves of the overall draw and the seeded teams will play the second leg of the play-off at home as a reward for finishing higher than their opponent in the league phase.

Unlike in previous years, teams eliminated from the Champions League - either in the group phase or via losing a play-off - will not drop into the Europa League.

The draw for the play-off round is on 31 January at 11:00 GMT.

One of Uefa's reasons for changing to this format was so "every game counts".

It said the format "will ensure that any result has the potential to dramatically change a team's position, right up to and including the very last matchday".

And so it has panned out with only two dead rubbers (Sturm Graz v Leipzig and Young Boys v Red Star Belgrade) and 16 games with something on the line.

There are several games where both clubs are battling for the same goal, like Manchester City v Club Brugge, Stuttgart v PSG, Brest v Real Madrid and Inter Milan v Monaco.

It could lead to enjoyable mayhem for fans with some teams potentially being affected by more than 10 other games. Aston Villa, for example, could overtake six teams or be overtaken by 15 teams (albeit not all 15) - including opponents Celtic.

Another reason Uefa gave for the new format was to ensure more matches between the top teams in the initial stages of the tournament.

This year has seen Real Madrid face Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool in repeats of three recent finals, and Barcelona play Bayern Munich, while Paris St-Germain have faced Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich and Manchester City.

Failing to qualify for the next round means taking a financial hit.

Every club in the league phase gets 18.62m euros for participating, with performance bonuses of 2.1m euros per win and 700,000 euros per draw.

Each position in the table is worth 275,000 euros, too. So the team that finishes 36th earns that much, 35th claims 550,000 euros through to 9.9m euros for the table-toppers.

Teams finishing first to eighth also earn a 2m euros bonus, with teams finishing ninth to 16th getting 1m euros.

The prize money for reaching each knockout round is shown below.

Uefa has also introduced a "value pillar" that splits the broadcast revenue. This again increases depending on your finishing position in the league phase.

That is before matchday revenue and other factors are taken into account.

In other words, it is fairly costly to be eliminated early.

Watch highlights of every Champions League game from 22:00 on Wednesday on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.

There will also be a Champions League Match of the Day on BBC One on Wednesday, from 22:40 to 00:00.