5️⃣ things to look out for in Wednesday's mammoth UCL finale 💫 | OneFootball

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The league phase of this season's Champions League is set to conclude in explosive fashion on Wednesday night.

With 18 games taking place simultaneously and plenty still to play for, we look at five big storylines from the action.

⚔️ Match of the Day

Barcelona may already be assured of a last 16 berth and Atalanta are slated to have a 35% chance of joining them there when they meet in the Catalan capital, but this is still set to produce fireworks.

The clubs have never met before, meaning La Dea will be the 159th different European opponent Barça have come up against - a record for continental competition.

So why so excited by this match-up? It sees two of the three sides with the highest xG totals in this season's tournament face off (Atalanta topping the charts with 19.7 and the Blaugrana not far behind on 18.4), with Barcelona scoring more than other team (26) and Atalanta third in that ranking (18).

There will be goals and excitement, particularly with Raphinha and Charles De Ketelaere, arguably the Champions League's two standout performers this season, spearheading the respective attacks.

🔎 Team to Watch

There is no doubt that the eyes of much of the footballing public will be focused on Manchester City and their attempts to avoid the humiliation of being eliminated before the knockout phase.

Prior to kick-off against Club Brugge at the Etihad Stadium, the Premier League champions sit 25th in the standings - which would result in a humiliating automatic elimination as a result of finishing in the bottom 12.

To avoid that, City's task is simple: they must beat the Belgians, who are all but qualified for the play-off round themselves, to ensure they make it to the next phase.

But they must be wary. Brugge are currently on a 16-game unbeaten run (including four Champions League fixtures) and will be no easy task.

🔥 Player to Watch

For the second time since leaving last summer, Kylian Mbappé returns to his homeland for Champions League action.

Last time against Lille, things did not go well as the holders were beaten 1-0 and the former PSG superstar was criticised for his part in the defeat.

He returns in much better form, warming up with a ruthless hat-trick last weekend as he aims to take France off the list of Champions League nations' representatives he has faced without scoring (Russia being the other thanks to two scoreless meetings with CSKA Moscow).

His record against Brest suggests he will do just that - having netted nine times in 10 career outings against them.

👀 Potential upset

Rather than specific fixtures, we're looking to the Opta odds to determine where some of the more fancied clubs could find themselves in jeopardy.

Given they need to win and have other results go their way (which aren't beyond the realms of possibility) Lille are slated with just a one in three chance of making the top eight and making history.

Elsewhere, fellow Ligue 1 side PSG's comeback heroics against Manchester City have put them in a strong play-off position but a trip to Stuttgart is no easy game and should things go awry, they are given a 14% chance of slipping back into the elimination spots.

In the top eight, Bayer Leverkusen are also in a very strong position as they welcome Sparta Prague to town but there is a 25% chance they could fall out of the automatic spots and into the banana skin of a play-off.

📊 Fascinating stat

Girona face Arsenal having lost their last four Champions League games without managing to find the net.

No team from Europe's top five leagues has ever lost five-in-a-row and failed to score in the process in the history of the competition.

📸 Mike Hewitt - 2025 Getty Images