The UEFA Women’s Champions League will play its final matchday of the new-look league phase on Dec. 17, with all nine games kicking off at 3 p.m. ET (8 p.m. GMT).

All 18 teams have been battling to progress since early October and we now have a rough idea which 12 teams will be able to qualify for the knockout stages, either automatically or via a playoff.

The knockout draw, which sets the full path of the bracket, will be held on Thursday, Dec. 18. There is no country protection, meaning teams from the same league can face each other throughout the knockouts.

Here’s everything you need to know.

How does qualification work?

The top four in the league-phase table go straight through to the two-legged quarterfinals, which are to be played on March 24 and April 1.

The eight teams in positions 5 through to 12 go into the knockout-phase playoffs, which will be played on Feb. 11-12 and Feb. 18-19, to earn a place in the quarterfinals.

Teams in positions 13 to 18 are eliminated.

Then, from the league-phase playoffs onwards, the competition has a two-legged format through to the semifinals, with a traditional one-legged final.

How does the league phase feed into the knockout bracket?

The new format gives importance to league placing with teams paired. The higher you finish, the more favorable your path, including that jump direct to the quarterfinals for the top four.

Here’s how it works.

For the knockout-phase playoffs, the draw will create four ties from:

11 or 12 vs. 5 or 6 (two ties)
9 or 10 vs. 7 or 8 (two ties)

The draw will place the four ties which have been created into a position in the bracket, in either the silver or blue half.

Then the paired teams in positions 1 & 2, and 3 & 4, will be drawn into one of two possible positions, again to create fixtures.

For the quarterfinals, the draw will be:

The winners of a tie involving 7, 8, 9 and 10 will play 1 or 2 (two ties)
The winners of a tie involving 5, 6, 11 and 12 will play 3 or 4 (two ties)

The whole bracket is now set.

The teams that finish in positions 1-4 will be at home in the second leg of the quarterfinals.

The semifinal ties are already set by the bracket draw. In principle, the teams ranked 1 and 2 will play the semifinal second leg at home. However, if 1 and/or 2 are knocked out in the quarterfinals, the home right will pass to the team that has eliminated them. For instance, if Arsenal (first) are knocked out by Paris FC (ninth), it’s Paris FC who will have home advantage in the final four.

So, it isn’t based on league placing — and that means it’s impossible for the teams that finish in third and fourth to get a home semifinal second leg, as they cannot claim it off first or second.

Who is through already?

Barcelona and OL Lyonnes both have 13 points, which secures them a top-four spot.

Chelsea, Juventus, Real Madrid, Wolfsburg, Arsenal, Manchester United and Paris FC have all secured at least a knockout-phase playoff spot.

Atlético Madrid basically have as well, as Valerenga can go level on points with them, but have a vastly inferior goal difference and would need to win 10-0.

OH Leuven are favorites for the final 12th spot, unless they lose or draw vs. Arsenal and Valerenga beat Bayern.

Who is out already?

Bottom side St. Pölten are out, while FC Twente, Benfica, Roma, Paris Saint-Germain (who lost their first four games) also can’t catch OH Leuven in 12th at this point.

What’s at stake in the final league-phase fixtures?

VfL Wolfsburg vs. Chelsea: A Wolfsburg win could propel them into the top four and automatic qualification (depending on other results). But they’d need Real Madrid and Juventus not to win. Chelsea will seal top four with a win, but if they draw, then Juventus, Real Madrid or Bayern could usurp them.

OH Leuven vs. Arsenal: Leuven should be safe in 12th spot even with a defeat, but if Valerenga beat Bayern then even a draw wouldn’t be enough as they would lose out on goal difference. Arsenal need other results to go their way to claim a top-four spot, with Chelsea, Juventus, Real Madrid, Bayern and Wolfsburg above them.

Bayern Munich vs. Valerenga: To finish in the top four, Bayern need to better the results of Juventus or Real Madrid as they have a vastly inferior goal difference. Valerenga need a miracle to claim the final playoff spot and avoid elimination: they have to win and hope Arsenal don’t lose to Leuven.

FC Twente vs. Real Madrid: Madrid will want to score as many as possible and get the win against the already eliminated Twente, as it’s close with Juve for fourth spot. If they do that, an automatic place is theirs.

Juventus vs. Manchester United: Juve are currently fourth but are only edging Madrid on goals scored, so they really need to win. A draw will likely put them into the playoffs. United could edge into the top-tier of the playoff draw if they get a win, or a draw and Wolfsburg lose to Chelsea.

OL Lyonnes vs. Atlético Madrid: Atlético will want to finish as high as possible to get a better playoff draw, and only a win will do that. They have a much better goal difference (+8) than the teams around them, but a draw would only get them as high as 10th. OL Lyonnes are through but will be keen to finish top — though they are six goals behind Barcelona.

Paris FC vs. Barcelona: Similar to Atlético, Paris FC but need a win to get into spots 5-8, but their goal difference is worse than the teams there if they draw. Barcelona are through but will be keen to finish top.

Roma vs. St. Pölten: Nothing, both are out.

Benfica vs. Paris Saint-Germain: Nothing, both are out.

When will the knockout games be played?

Playoffs:

Leg 1: Feb. 11-12
Leg 2: Feb. 18-19

Quarterfinals

Leg 1: March 23-25
Leg 2: March 31-April 2

Semifinals

Leg 1: April 24-26
Leg 2: May 1-3

Final

May 22, 23 at Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo, Norway.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes underwent successful surgery Monday night in Dallas to repair the tear in his left ACL, the team announced.

The surgery was performed by Dr. Dan Cooper, the Dallas Cowboys‘ head team physician. A league source told ESPN that Dr. Cooper also repaired the torn LCL in Mahomes’ left knee, confirming a report by NFL Network.

According to the Chiefs, Mahomes “will begin his rehab process immediately.”

Mahomes was injured with less than two minutes remaining in Sunday’s 16-13 loss to the Chargers, a result that ended the Chiefs’ playoff hopes.

The typical recovery for such an injury is about nine months, meaning Mahomes will miss the team’s offseason program, and his availability for the start of next season is in question. The 2026 NFL season opener is Sept. 10.

“He’ll attack it, just like he does everything else,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said earlier Monday when addressing Mahomes’ rehab. “There have been some pretty good quarterbacks who have had the same injury, and they’ve done pretty well after they came back. He’ll get after it, and he’s got good people here to rehab him. He’ll be right on top of all of that.”

One of the most prominent quarterbacks to rehab a torn ACL is Tom Brady, who was injured in the 2008 opener when he was 31 and in his ninth NFL season.

During Monday’s episode of his “Let’s Go!” podcast, Brady shared some advice for Mahomes based on his own experience.

“You’ve just got to put as much diligence into the rehab process,” said Brady, who went on to win four Super Bowls after his injury. “I always feel like the faster you rehab, the faster you can get back to practicing the sport that you know you love. I think sometimes people will pace themselves. Instead of training mode, they’re in rehab mode. I think you got to get through rehab mode as fast as possible, and then you get back to training mode.

“But that requires an all-out commitment and it’s the same commitment that the great professional athletes make to be great at their profession. When you go through the rehab process, you need that same level of focus and determination. It’s a tough rehab. It’s one of the toughest rehabs.”

LAS VEGAS — Victor Wembanyama played limited minutes off the bench in San Antonio‘s win over Oklahoma City in the semifinals of the Emirates NBA Cup on Saturday, and Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said the team might employ a similar approach in Tuesday’s championship game against the New York Knicks.

“It’s going to be a mix of different opinions,” Wembanyama said Monday. “But I’m ready. Even I will have my own opinion [about what to do]. It will also be based on my thoughts and the thoughts of the staff. I just said a bunch of nothing. But basically, we’re going to discuss it.”

Wembanyama came off the bench Saturday for the first time in his career after missing 12 games because of a left calf strain. He played 21 minutes against the Thunder, racking up 15 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, when the rest of his teammates combined for 18 points.

Wembanyama didn’t check into the game until the start of the second quarter, when Oklahoma City led by 11 points. Wembanyama had three rebounds, a tip-in layup and an assist on Dylan Harper‘s 3-pointer in his first three possessions. The Spurs’ center went 2-of-3 from the floor in the second quarter for five points as San Antonio cut the Thunder’s lead to three points at halftime.

“I know Vic wanted to get out there and play more, but we’re focused on his long-term [health],” Spurs guard Devin Vassell said. “I trust in Mitch 100 percent. They had the perfect plan. I know they talked about it over and over, and we executed it. As soon as Vic came in, he had the impact that we needed.”

A similar strategy could unfold Tuesday against the Knicks.

“It’ll be something that Victor and I will continue to talk through,” Johnson said. “It’s hard. He wants to play. He wants to start. He wants to finish. Wherever you put some minutes, that means you have less over there. We still have to think about what’s best for the team, unfortunately. That decision can’t be made in a vacuum, even though it’s a very impactful and influential decision. We still have to make sure it fits with the other rollout of who’s playing with who and how that affects others.”

Wembanyama is still eligible for major individual awards despite the time he has already missed. Even though the NBA Cup championship game won’t count in the standings, it counts toward the NBA’s 65-game rule for awards.

The Spurs attempted to maximize Wembanyama’s minutes restriction in the NBA Cup semifinal game. After playing a little more than seven minutes in the first half, Wembanyama played 13:20 after halftime.

“We’re not at a stage where we will be unintentional with his minutes, whether that’s volume over time [or] long stints,” Johnson said. “But we want to make sure we’ve learned or continue to learn from what has happened. That doesn’t mean we have the answers. But we don’t just say, ‘Oh, now we’re back,’ or whatever. We are still learning and want to be very mindful of that.”