Champions League play-offs and knockouts: What we know so far as Arsenal, Liverpool, Spurs, Chelsea and Man City go straight into last 16

The league phase of the Champions League reached a thrilling conclusion with 18 simultaneous games and a total of 61 goals, including one by Benfica goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin.

Here's a look at some of the key themes from the league phase and what we know about the impending knockout stages.

The final standings underline the strength of the Premier League.

Five of the top eight are English clubs, while no other nation has more than one.

Germany, Spain and Portugal have a representative each in Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Sporting.

Newcastle are the only English side to have missed out on a top-eight finish but go into the knockout phase play-offs as one of the seeded sides, having finished 12th, meaning they will face one of two unseeded teams in Qarabag or Monaco.

Since the introduction of the league phase format last season, the Premier League has had a combined eight top-eight finishes. It's more than twice as many as any other league, with Spain's La Liga next on three.

One of the benefits of English teams performing so strongly in Europe is that the Premier League is now all but certain to repeat last season's feat of clinching a fifth Champions League spot by finishing in the top two of UEFA's coefficient table.

With five Premier League teams having gone straight into the Champions League last 16, and with all nine Premier League teams in Europe still alive in their respective competitions, England sits comfortably top of the table ahead of Germany.

Newcastle were the beneficiaries last season, clinching their place in this campaign's Champions League with a fifth-placed Premier League finish. Now the door is open for another side to take advantage as English teams continue to perform strongly on the continent.

With Newcastle the only English club in the knockout phase play-offs, there is no prospect of an all-English play-off.

The earliest opportunity for two English sides to meet is in the last 16, when Newcastle could come up against Chelsea, although we will have to wait until the draw for the last 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals on February 27 for that.

The earliest opportunity for any other all-English meetings is in the quarter-finals, when Manchester City could meet Arsenal and Chelsea or Newcastle could meet Tottenham or Liverpool.

While five of the six Premier League sides will benefit from back-to-back free midweeks in February having gone straight into the last 16, Newcastle add two games to an already hectic schedule.

Eddie Howe's side will play their play-off first and second legs on February 17 or 18 and February 24 or 25, in between Premier League games away to Manchester City on February 21 and at home to Everton on February 28.