The Champions League returns this week with round seven of the league phase fixtures, the first time that this stage of the competition has extended into the new year.

There’s still a lot that we don’t yet know about the new format but we do now know the identities of the first two teams to secure a place in the top eight, booking their spots in the round-of-16.

UCL leaders Liverpool beat Lille 2-1 at Anfield to confirm that they will be making it through. Elsewhere Barcelona came from 3-1 and 4-2 down to snatch a victory over Benfica, with Raphinha scoring a dramatic 96th-minute winner.

Those results, along with Borussia Dortmund’s 2-1 loss to Bologna, confirmed that Liverpool and Barcelona will advance to the round-of-16. With an incredible 100% record from their first seven games Liverpool have a three-point lead at the top of the standings. However Barcelona have a better goal difference, so could snatch top spot on the final day if they win and Liverpool lose.

At the other end of the league table, a number of teams have now been eliminated from contention. RB Leipzig, Slovan Bratislava and Young Boys are all out having failed to pick up a single point so far. Likewise Crvena zvezda and Sturm Graz are also out; they have three points apiece but only one game remaining with which to overtake Manchester City, who are currently occupying the final qualification place.

There remains a number of huge teams with a lot of work to do to ensure that they do not suffer an ignominious league phase exit in the first edition of the expanded competition. Real Madrid have only picked up nine points from their first six games and will need to win the remaining two to guarantee a place in the knock-out rounds.

Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain are on eight and seven points, respectively, and go head-to-head in a massive game on Wednesday. For both teams a win would help to kick-start their floundering UCL campaigns; a loss would almost certainly end them.