The first leg of the UCL play offs take place on Tuesday and Wednesday and we take a look at selected matches including Galatasaray v Juventus, Benfica v Real Madrid, Qarabag v Newcastle and Club Brugge v Atletico Madrid.
Galatasaray v Juventus (Tuesday)
Galatasaray finished 20th in the league phase with a record of 3 wins, 1 draw and 5 defeats. Those wins came in Rounds 2, 3 and 4, at home to Liverpool (1-0) and Bodo (3-1) and away at Ajax (3-0). They were very well placed at that stage but their only subsequent point was earned in a 1-1 draw at home to Atletico on Matchday 7.
Juve drew 3 and lost 1 of their first 4 matches and looked in trouble at the half way stage. However they bounced back with a 3-2 win at Bodo before seeing off Pafos and Benfica (both 2-0) in home fixtures and a 0-0 draw at Monaco in their final match saw them finish 13th with 13 points.
Bet: to follow when team news becomes available
Benfica v Real Madrid (Tuesday)
Benfica squeezed into the play offs with 3 wins and 5 defeats. They hosted Madrid on Matchday 8 and came out on top 4-2 whilst other wins came at Ajax on Matchday 5 and at home to Napoli on Matchday 6 (both 2-0).
That defeat at Benfica in their final league phase match cost Real automatic qualification and they finished 9th with 15 points. They won at home to Marseille (2-1), Juventus (1-0) and Monaco (6-1) and also picked up maximum points from visits to Kairat (5-0) and Olympiakos (4-3).
Bet: to follow when team news becomes available
Qarabag v Newcastle (Wednesday)
A record 3 wins, 1 draw and 4 defeats saw Qarabag pick up 10 points to finish in 22nd position. After coming through qualifying they won their first 2 matches, away to Benfica (3-2) and at home to Copenhagen (2-0). They drew 2-2 at Chelsea and edged out Frankfurt (3-2) in a Matchday 7 home fixture and despite crashing to a 6-0 defeat at Liverpool last time out they had done enough to earn a play off spot.
Newcastle won 4, drew 2 and lost 2 of their matches and with 14 points they were 2 shy of automatic qualification. Away from home Newcastle won at Union SG (4-0), they went down 2-1 in Marseille and drew 2-2 at Leverkusen before a gallant 1-1 draw at PSG in the final round of the league phase.
Bet: to follow when team news becomes available
Club Brugge v Atletico Madrid (Wednesday)
Brugge came through qualifying and were another side to finish on 10 points with 3 wins, 1 draw and 4 defeats in the league phase. They started with a 4-1 win at home to Monaco and their next point came on Matchday 4, a 3-3 draw at home to Barcelona. They had to win both of their last 2 matches to make the play offs and they obliged by seeing off Kairat (4-1) away from home and then Marseille (3-0) in a home fixture.
Atletico won 4, drew 1 and lost 3 of their matches and they faded in the later rounds to finish 14th. They won home games against Frankfurt (5-1), Union SG (3-1) and Inter (2-1) before a 3-2 win at PSV in Round 6. Thereafter dropped points in a 1-1 draw at Galatasaray followed by a shock 2-1 home defeat to Bodo cost them a top 8 automatic qualification spot.
Bet: to follow when team news becomes available
Note prices quoted are subject to change