After a thrilling finish to the UEFA Champions League's first-ever league phase, the competition will gear up to hold its inaugural knockout phase playoffs with Friday's draw. The teams that finished from ninth through 24th in the league phase will take part in the knockout phase playoffs,

Friday morning, UEFA conducted the draw for the Champion League's new playoff phase, which essentially adds one more round to the previous format's knockout stage. 16 teams were sorted, with pairings influenced (but not entirely determined) by order of finish in the group stage.

NYON, Switzerland (AP) — Draw made Friday for the knockout playoffs round in the UEFA Champions League: Atalanta (Italy) vs. Club Brugge (Belgium) – winner will play Lille or Aston Villa