Six English clubs, one huge night – all to play for in Champions League

Wins for Chelsea, Liverpool, Newcastle and Spurs last time out in the Champions League kept them each in the hunt for a top-eight finish

BySam Drury

BBC Sport journalist

• Published21 January 2026

Updated 5 hours ago

A blockbuster final day of games in the Champions League’s league phase in rich in dramatic potential, with 30 teams waiting for their fate to be decided.

Six English clubs are eyeing top-eight spots, while there are notable familiar faces looking to get the better of their former employers.

Arsenal are safely through to the last 16, where they will be joined by Bayern Munich, but just about everybody else still has work to do and major targets to aim for in a congested 36-team table.

The table-topping Gunners have been predicted as being best-placed to win the competition for the first time, with Opta ranking their chances at 31%, ahead of Bayern on 16.9%

Liverpool, Tottenham, Newcastle United and Chelsea are the other Premier League sides occupying a top-eight spot, and staying there would mean they avoid the play-offs and go straight into the last 16.

Manchester City – currently in a play-off spot – are behind seventh-placed Newcastle and eighth-placed Chelsea only on goal difference. The English trio feature among eight teams on 13 points heading into Wednesday’s final round of games, with all 18 matches kicking off at 20:00 GMT.

There have never been six clubs from one country in the competition before, never mind in the knockout stages.

Bayern confirm talks to extend Kane’s contract

Bayern Munich sporting director Max Eberl on Monday confirmed the club are in talks to extend Harry Kane’s deal at the club.

The 32-year-old England forward, who joined Bayern in 2023, has a deal until 2027.

“We’re talking to Harry, we’re talking,” Eberl said at a Bundesliga event in Frankfurt.

“Everyone knows at some point a decision has to be made,” he added.

Club CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen said on Monday: “Harry has great confidence in us and he feels comfortable in Munich.

“He and his family are settled in. Therefore we’ve got absolutely no reason to rush.”

Long without a team trophy, Kane broke his drought in 2025 when Bayern won the Bundesliga.

This campaign, Bayern are eight points clear in the league and sit second in the 36-team Champions League table.

Speaking in October, Kane said he could “definitely imagine” extending his stay in Germany.

Kane has scored 119 goals in 126 games for Bayern, while adding 30 assists.

This campaign, Kane has 34 goals in 30 games. With 21 goals in 19 Bundesliga matches, Kane is on track to break the single season league record of 41 goals set by Robert Lewandowski in 2020-21.

England’s Dawson wants to be fifth time lucky with World Cup debut at age 35

Liam Dawson, who has been with the England squad at four different World Cups but never played a match, is hoping to make his debut at the global tournament in next month’s Twenty20 World Cup at the age of 35.

Dawson was in the squad at the T20 World Cup in 2016 and the 50-over one in 2019. He was a travelling reserve in the T20 World Cups of 2021 and 2022 and last month was named in England’s 15-man party for this year’s tournament co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.

He has scored one fifty and taken 33 wickets for England in 33 matches across all formats and has been the team’s most economical bowler in the ongoing one-day international (ODI) series against Sri Lanka in Colombo.

Left-arm spinner Dawson conceded 31 and 40 runs from his 10 overs in both matches, with the series level at 1-1 going into Tuesday’s decider.

“Obviously, the older you get. Sometimes you don’t expect to be involved. I’m 35 now but it’s amazing to be back involved. And obviously, the World Cup is going to be a really cool occasion if I’m selected to play,” Dawson told reporters on Monday.

England will play three T20 matches against Sri Lanka before kicking off their World Cup campaign against Nepal in Mumbai on February 8.