The inaugural Champions League stage is set for an exciting final day, with 25 of the 36 teams still awaiting their fate.

All 18 games will be played simultaneously on Wednesday 29th January at 20:00 GMT, with 16 games to be played soon.

Manchester City are in serious danger of being eliminated after Wednesday's rout at Paris Saint-Germain, while Liverpool have already advanced, Arsenal are almost there and Aston Villa and Celtic clash on the pitch. between the two.

The "as is" table will be updated continuously and the team's hopes may depend on other results.

This marked the first season of the new format, and the old four-team groupings only had two games - and sometimes there was nothing to play for by the end.

Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher wrote on social media: "It's fantastic and not the boredom we've experienced in our last games in years."

"Next week is going to be sensational."

How many teams qualify for the knockout stages?

First, let's review the goals of the 36 teams in the league stage.

The top eight teams will automatically advance to the last 16 and become seeded players.

They will await the winners of eight two-legged knockout play-offs, in which teams are ranked from ninth to 24th.

Teams ranked 9th to 16th will be seeded against the teams ranked 17th to 24th and have the advantage of playing the second leg at home.

Clubs ranked 25th or lower will be eliminated and will not be able to enter the Europa League.

The play-offs will take place in mid-February and the final 16 games will be played in the first two weeks of March.

Which teams advance – and who gets eliminated?

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 , Celtics

Uncertainty about progress: PSV, Club Brugge, Benfica, Paris Saint-Germain, Sporting Lisbon, Stuttgart, Manchester City, Dinamo Zagreb, Shakhtar Donetsk

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

What does Team GB have to go through?

Manchester City There is a very simple arrangement. If they beat Club Brugge at home, they will advance to the play-offs. If they fail to win, they will be eliminated.

They cannot automatically advance to the last 16.

aston villa At least one play-off spot is guaranteed.

A home win against Celtic would give them a good chance of finishing in the top eight, although they would need one of the five teams above them to advance.

But there are four teams with just a lower goal difference than Villa, so a big win for one of them could see them overtake Villa.

celtics Just one point behind Villa so a top eight finish is conceivable, but they need to win and a lot needs to happen above them.

arsenal - Away to Girona - Almost qualified for the last 16 as they are three points clear of the play-offs and have a 13-point greater goal difference than any team.

liverpool are one of two teams, the other being Barcelona, ​​who know they have reached the last 16 and will be guaranteed a top-two finish.

Bayern Munich and Real Madrid are the giants ranked between 9th and 24th, and they hope to successfully enter the top eight.

Does it matter where you finish in the top eight?

really.

A team's position in the standings determines which opponents they will face in the knockout stages and when they can face them.

Take Liverpool for example. The Reds have now secured a top-two finish, giving them a seeding route into the last 16.

That means the Reds will face a team ranked 15th, 16th, 17th or 18th in the Round of 16.

The identity of the team won't be known until after the play-offs, but the pre-determined draw means the team will be the winner of those four spots.

Until the final, Liverpool could not face a team that finished second in the league stage, or any top-ranked team that was overtaken on the final matchday.

In contrast, a team ranked seventh or eighth might face a team ranked just below them in the league stage - a team ranked ninth or tenth.

For more information on who's playing whom in the play-offs, read on...

What is the difference between ninth place and twenty-fourth place?

Teams ranked 9th to 16th will be seeded in the knockout playoff draw.

This means they will face a team ranked between 17th and 24th.

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

For example, the teams that finished 11th and 12th would be paired up and play the team that finished 21st or 22nd.

Another bracket will pair the ninth- and 10th-ranked teams in the standings against the 23rd or 24th-ranked team.

The two pairs of matches will be split between the two halves of the draw, with the seeded teams playing the second leg of the play-offs at home as a reward for finishing higher than their opponents in the league stage.

Unlike previous years, teams eliminated from the Champions League - either in the group stage or in the play-offs - will not advance to the Europa League.

The play-off draw will take place on January 31 at 11:00 GMT.

Is this format valid?

One of the reasons why UEFA changed this format is that "every game matters".

It said the format "will ensure that any result has the potential to significantly alter a team's position up to and including the final matchday".

Thus, only two dead ends (Sturm Graz vs. Leipzig, Young Boys vs. Red Star Belgrade) and 16 games were achieved.

There are several games where both clubs are fighting for the same goal, such as Manchester City vs. Club Brugge, Stuttgart vs. Paris Saint-Germain, Brest vs. Real Madrid and Inter Milan vs. Monaco.

This could create a pleasant mess for fans, as some teams could be affected by more than 10 other games. Aston Villa, for example, could overtake six teams or be overtaken by 15 teams (though not all 15), including rivals Celtic.

Another reason UEFA proposed the new format was to ensure the top teams had more games to play in the early stages of the tournament.

This year, Real Madrid faced Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool, Barcelona faced Bayern Munich, and PSG faced Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich, and Manchester City in their last three finals.

What is the financial impact of where it is done?

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

In the league stage, each club can receive a participation bonus of 18.62 million euros, a performance bonus of 2.1 million euros for each victory, and a performance bonus of 700,000 euros for each draw.

Each position in the table is also worth €275,000. Therefore, the team ranked 36th will receive the same amount, and the team ranked 35th will receive bonuses ranging from 550,000 euros to 9.9 million euros.

Teams in 1st to 8th place will also receive a bonus of 2 million euros, and teams in 9th to 16th place will receive a bonus of 1 million euros.

Prize money for each elimination round is as follows.

UEFA has also introduced "value pillars" for splitting broadcast revenue. This again depends on your final placement in the league stage.

That's before taking into account matchday revenue and other factors.

In other words, the cost of being eliminated early is quite high.

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

BBC One will also show daily Champions League matches on Wednesdays from 22:40 to 00:00.