The league phase of the Champions League season was brought to a close on Wednesday night as games kicked off simultaneously in 18 stadia across Europe, with a lot to salvage for several teams, while a few were only playing for the culture.

Premier League clubs dominate once again as five of six representatives finished in the top eight, while Newcastle United, their only member to miss an automatic round 16 spot forced PSG to a draw in Paris to finish in the top 12.

Barcelona and Bayern Munich are the only clubs in Europe's top five leagues to join the English giants, as Sporting CP secured a surprise slot, while Real Madrid dropped from third to ninth on a dramatic night.

Here is a summary of the league phase of the Champions League this season, highlighting round of 16 entrants, elimination playoff candidates, and the unlucky ones whose journeys in the competition have come to a close.

Round of 16 Entrants

1. Arsenal

Premier League leaders Arsenal became the first team to win all league phase games of the Champions League, finishing top of the pile with a perfect record — eight wins out of eight.

Mikel Arteta's charge defeated top teams like Bayern Munich, Atlético Madrid, and Inter, and conceded just two goals across seven games before a heavily altered team let Kairat Almaty bag two in a 3-2 win in their final game.

2. Bayern Munich 

Bayern Munich finished second to Arsenal, winning all their games except the defeat to Arsenal, which saw them amass 21 points out of the possible 24, a six-point upgrade from their 15 last season, which saw them finish outside the top eight.

They beat tough oppositions like defending champions Paris Saint-Germain, and Chelsea, while scoring 22 goals across the eight games, with only Arsenal, 23, scoring more.

3. Liverpool 

Liverpool finished third in the league, thanks to their impressive form of late, which saw them win their final three games to overtake plenty and move up the standings, after previous losses to Galatasaray and PSV Eindhoven.

They had impressive wins against top teams like Real Madrid, Inter, and Atlético Madrid, while ending their campaign with a 6-0 thrashing of the Azerbaijan side Qarabag in Anfield.

4. Tottenham Hotspur 

Despite their disappointing Premier League form, Tottenham Hotspur was one of the best teams in the league phase of the Champions League, and comfortably sealed a fourth-place finish with 17 points.

Their only defeat came in an eight-goal thriller with PSG in November, while their six clean sheets are the most so far, and despite facing high-scoring teams like Dortmund and Frankfurt, only Arsenal, four, conceded fewer goals than their seven.

5. Barcelona 

A massive comeback was completed for Hansi Flick's charge in the final round of the league phase games as a 4-1 comeback win over Copenhagen helped them improve their goal difference and move ahead of their competitors.

A disappointing campaign by the standard though given the context of their two losses, against PSG and Chelsea, as well as a 3-3 draw with Club Brugge, but winning their final three games helped them finish fifth.

6. Chelsea 

Chelsea head into their final league phase game against Napoli needing a win to secure a top-eight finish, but after trailing at some point in the game, they were able to turn it around and win 3-2 thanks to two second-half goals.

It wasn't an easy group run for the West Londoners, who started with a defeat at Bayern Munich and secured three of their five wins by just a goal difference, but back-to-back wins in their final two games salvaged their quest for a top-eight finish.

7. Sporting CP 

Surprise of the league phase, Sporting CP secured a top-eight finish ahead of some European heavyweights, by earning a massive win against PSG in their penultimate group game, which inspired them to a climax finale.

Wins in fairly easy dates with Kairat Almaty, and Club Brugge, joined with an impressive draw against Juventus and the win over Olympique Marseille placed them in a strong position, before crowning themhe journey with a win over Athletic Club.

8. Manchester City

Rescued by a host of slip-ups on the final day and a 2-0 win over Galatasaray thanks to goals from Erling Haaland and Rayan Cherki ensured they take advantage when it was presented.

Manchester City's chances of a top-eight finish took a severe hit after the loss at Bodo Glimt in their penultimate group game but Pep Guardiola was lucky enough that his side managed to finish eighth, just a point above the drop.

Elimination Playoff Candidates

9. Real Madrid 

A disappointing night for Real Madrid in Benfica, where they lost 4-2 to surrender their spot in the top eight, despite starting the night in third place and needing just a point to ensure safety.

10. International Milan

Inter started the league phase campaign on a good note but losing three straight games heading into the final round, their fate was no longer in their hands, and a 2-0 win at Dortmund could only lift them up to 10th.

11. Paris Saint-Germain 

Just like they did in their title-winning campaign, PSG failed to finish in the top eight due to a poor run that saw them win just two points from their final three games, including a disappointing loss to Sporting CP.

12. Newcastle United 

It was always going to be one of Newcastle United or PSG and not both, and a 1-1 draw in Paris means the Magpies will settle for 12th position. Nevertheless, it was a campaign to be proud of for Eddie Howe and his team, who won 14 from 24 points.

13. Juventus Turin 

The Bianconerri won 11 of their 13 points in their final five games, effectively making up for an underwhelming start to the competition thanks to their new manager, Luciano Spalletti, and resilient defensive performances.

14. Atlético Madrid 

A big opportunity missed by Diego Simeone's side, who had the chance to secure a straight spot into the round of 16 but suffered a 2-1 defeat at home to Bodo Glimt in their final group game, and find themselves down to 14th.

15. Atalanta

After recording 13 points from their opening six games thanks to the victory over Chelsea, Atalanta were in contention for top eigjt finish but disappointingly gave it up after losing at home to Athletic Club, and away at Royal Union St. Gilloise.

16. Bayer Leverkusen 

Bayer Leverkusen are the second-best-placed German Bundesliga club at 16 with 12 points, but they will not have much complaints, especially since they had to wait until a 3-0 victory over Villarreal in their final game confirmed their playoff status.

17.Borussia Dortmund 

Securing a place in the top eight was always going to be tricky for Borussia Dortmund, but placing 17th on the log with 11 points is a massive flop considering they had 10 points at three games to go.

18. Olympiacos Piraeus 

A massive comeback for the Greek side, who have just two points with three games left, but managed to win all three against Kairat Almaty, Bayer Leverkusen, and Ajax to finish the campaign with 11 points.

19. Club Brugge, Galatasaray, Monaco, and Qarabag 

The quartet finished level on points as Club Brugge won their final game while Monaco played out a goalless draw with Juventus. Galatasaray have done the job in the early rounds, and a 2-0 defeat to Manchester City only dropped them down, but not out of the competition.

Qarabag lost 6-0 to Liverpool but that changed nothing as with ten points they finished 22nd on the log and made history by becoming the first Azerbaijan club to reach the Champions League knockout stage.

23. Bodo Glimt and Benfica 

The two clubs take the final two spots despite a challenging task before kickoff on Wednesday. Bodo Glimt won away at Atlético Madrid while Benfica scored a late goal via goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin to seal a 4-2 victory over Real Madrid and nick the final spot from Marseille.

Out of the tournament 

The odds favoured Olympique Marseille heading into the final games but a 3-0 loss in Club Brugge and results elsewhere not going their way saw them miss out.

Copenhagen, Athletic Club, PSV Eindhoven, and Napoli also missed the chance to reach the knockout stage following losses in their respective games, while wins for Pafos and Union St. Gilloise were not enough.

Ajax, Frankfurt, Slavia Prague, Villarreal, and Kairat Almaty have all been eliminated before Wednesday, and they make up the 12 teams who failed to reach the Champions League knockout stage.