Aston Villa

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery speaking to TNT Sports:

"We are trying to get the best out of our players.

"Our aim is to win and to get the top eight but we have to play, enjoy it and share the moments with our supporters. No more.

"Celtic have some good players and it will be a good challenge for us. I respect them and the coach."

Image source, Getty Images

"Split loyalties" have been reported on a 14-seater minibus carrying John McGinn's family and friends down to Birmingham.

The Aston Villa captain is a Celtic fan.

Speaking to BBC WM as the minibus took a pit stop at Gretna services, his brother Stephen - the St Mirren U18s coach - said the minibus had a "bit of a mix" on board.

"My mum and dad are on it, and then some friends - so there are some split loyalties on there - some Celtic fans jumped on."

Laughing, he said: "Honestly, there's a lot of people doing some acting, so I'm not really sure. There are poker faces.

"What I do say is it's a nice problem to have in terms of both qualifying. Had it been Villa needing the three points and Celtic needing the three points, it would have been a bit tense."

You can read more on BBC News.

This is the first time Aston Villa and Celtic have ever met in a competitive game.

Villa's only previous European game against another British club was in last season's Europa Conference League play-off when they beat Hibernian 8-0 on aggregate.

Celtic have drawn their past three games against English opposition in the Champions League, most recently 1-1 at Manchester City in December 2016.

Manchester City

Man City boss Pep Guardiola, speaking to TNT Sports about John Stones' return to the starting XI: "We don't have central defenders, so important.

"Hopefully, [he will play] all the game, but we will see.

"Ruben [Dias] is out and the new signings cannot play.

"We have Manu [Akanji] and now John is back."

On Club Brugge: "We expect the best from our opponents. It's a good way to be ready. I never expect they're going to perform bad, but mainly we are talking about our performance. If we win we go through, if we lose we go out. Today, that is the case."

On his final message to players: "I don't know - we will see!"

Joe Hart
Former Manchester City goalkeeper on BBC Radio 5 Live

To say it would be embarrassing for Man City to be knocked out of the competition I think is disrespectful. They have just lost some games, it is not an embarrassing thing.

Pep Guardiola, the players, the fans are putting themselves on the line. They are professional players and a professional team doing everything they can. It's not embarrassing when it doesn't go your way.

From an ego side it might be a bit embarrassing but from the professional side not at all, it's just losing some games.

Thomas Hitzlsperger
Former Aston Villa midfielder on BBC Radio 5 Live

Man City are not just facing a good side from Belgium. They are facing one of the best teams.

Having been on a really good run of form, it gives you so much confidence and the Brugge players will be going to the Etihad and thinking they can really upset them. The biggest challenge for Man City was in November and December.

I think they have turned a corner more or less. Overall to achieve their goal and qualify for the Champions League next season, I think they will do that. They have overcome the biggest obstacles.

Simon Stone
BBC Sport's chief football news reporter at the Etihad Stadium

The equation is simple.

Win and Manchester City are through to the play-offs. Fail to win and they are out of the Champions League before the knockout phase for the first time since 2012-13, when Roberto Mancini was in charge.

Pep Guardiola has never failed to get out of the group stage as a manager.

He was bullish about doing so tonight in yesterday's press conference and he has followed that up in his programme notes.

"We know we have to stand up and fight for our place in this competition," he said.

"We want to be in it and we will do absolutely everything we can to get three points tonight.

"This is a final. But we are here with our people.

"Now it is about playing with personality and being the best we can be. If we do that, I know we can win this match."

Who have been the winners and losers of the group phase? Shay Given and Thomas Hitzlsperger have their say.

Image source, Getty Images

Both Stuttgart and Paris St-Germain are on 10 points heading into the final fixture of the group stage.

A win for either side would guarantee them a place in the play-offs, while a defeat could lead to elimination.

"Experience tells me that when someone is keeping an eye on what is going on off the pitch, they stop doing what they need to do on the pitch, which means we will not leave it to chance," PSG boss Luis Enrique said.

"We are going out there to win which would improve our league position and that is our target."

Stuttgart suffered their first defeat of 2025 against Mainz on Saturday, and boss Sebastian Hoeness promised a reaction.

"We'll have to shake ourselves up now," he said. "And we'll convert the anger into energy for the next game. And that game is against Paris."

Manchester City

Regarding the fire at Manchester City, the club have said: "We can confirm that tonight's match will kick off at 8pm as originally planned. We look forward to welcoming everyone to the Etihad Stadium for tonight's match."

Ian Dennis
BBC Radio 5 Live senior football reporter at Villa Park

The simplest scenario for Villa is a win for them here at Villa Park and for Atalanta to fail to beat Barcelona. That is the easiest scenario.

They are one of eight sides that have a one in two chance of finishing in the top eight. But, they've got to win.

Image source, PA Media

Brendan Rodgers says Celtic's job is "certainly not complete" despite already being sure of a Champions League play-off spot at least.

A win would give them a tiny chance of finishing in the top eight but they would need nearly every other result to go their way.

"I think that the Premier League is the most competitive league in the world," former Liverpool and Leicester boss Rodgers said.

"It's where lots of top players are, lots of top managers are but it's not the only league in the world.

"I think there were options for me to stay in the Premier League, my choice was to go to Scotland, to Celtic, and I'm so happy that I did.

"OK, the competition might not be the same as what it is in the Premier League, but there are not many teams in the Premier League that rival the pressure that comes with managing a Celtic, or Rangers for that matter.

"It's a great achievement to be in the top 24, I think, if you look at the economics at this level.

"But for the players, they've been fantastic. They've worked very, very hard and do what we set out to do, which was to firstly arrive in the play-offs. So it's great.

"But our job's not complete in this series of eight games. We come here to a great venue. It's a fantastic team, but we want to come and and play to the level that we know we can."

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery says his side are facing a "fantastic coach" and "prestigious club".

Emery beat Celtic twice with PSG in 2017 - but lost to them with Spartak Moscow in 2012.

"Brendan Rodgers is a fantastic coach, he showed here in Leicester," he said.

"The last matches we played together was when he was at Leicester and it was always very difficult to beat the team he was managing.

"With PSG it was a different moment, we won but it was different teams.

"They are going to play feeling confident and trying to face us feeling they can be close to us as well.

"I know because I respect and analyse them. They have good players and a good coach, the club is a prestigious club and the players feel they are a team to play in Europe."

Villa need some results to go their way to finish in the top eight - but their play-off spot is secure.

With the likes of Nathan Ake, Ruben Dias and Jeremy Doku injured, plus new signings unable to play, does Pep Guardiola have enough depth to change the game if the result is not going their way?

Man City fan Amos Murphy from the City Ramble tells The Football News Show why that is "a red flag" - but also why he backs the players who are fit to see them through to the Champions League play-offs.

Thomas Hitzlsperger
Former Aston Villa midfielder on BBC Radio 5 Live

To lose to Club Brugge would be a huge disappointment and it can happen. We would all be surprised but having seen them, this can happen.

But I think they will go through and they have shown recently in the Premier League that they are one of the best teams in Europe.

If someone had told you six months ago that by January Manchester City would genuinely be facing the prospect of going out of the Champions League at the group phase, you probably would've laughed.

But, here we are.

A damaging run of poor form in both the Premier League and Champions League has left confidence low and City sit 25th in the European knockout phase table and needing a win on the final day to progress to the next phase.

Here's how they got here:

• Man City 0-0 Inter Milan
• Slovan Bratislava 0-4 Man City
• Man City 5-0 Sparta Prague
• Sporting 4-1 Man City
• Man City 3-3 Feyenoord
• Juventus 2-0 Man City
• PSG 4-2 Man City

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola says his side's Champions League situation is "not a problem" but "an opportunity" as they look to avoid exiting the competition at the group stage.

The 2022-23 champions are 25th in the 36-team league, two points out of the positions that qualify for the knockout phase play-offs.

They must beat Belgians Club Brugge at Etihad Stadium to avoid being eliminated at the group stage.

"The situation that we have is that we have to win the game and if not we will not continue in this competition," Guardiola said.

"We want to have another chance to play another two games, to have the chance of the next stages. It's not a problem, it's an opportunity."

Image source, Getty Images

The stages are set across Europe for our 18 matches...

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Image source, Getty Images

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BBC Radio 5 Live

Over on BBC Radio 5 Live, there's build up starting now to Manchester City v Club Brugge before live commentary from Etihad Stadium.

And over on Radio 5 Sports Extra, we've got live commentary of Aston Villa v Celtic from 19:55 GMT.

Just click the play icon at the top of this page.

Former Manchester City midfielder Michael Brown and BBC Sport's John Bennett join Ben Croucher on The Football News Show to discuss why they feel the revamped Champions League format has been a success.