The challenges awaiting the five British teams in the Champions League this week

The Champions League’s penultimate round of fixtures take place this week with 10 round-of-16 places still up for grabs.

Holders Manchester City are already through and Arsenal can seal their place in the knockout stages, but Manchester United and Newcastle have plenty to do, while Celtic are bidding for their first group win.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at each of the British clubs’ matchday five opponents.

Lazio v Celtic (Tuesday)

Lazio will qualify for the knockout phase as Group E runners-up with victory against Celtic at the Olympic Stadium in Rome if Feyenoord lose at home to leaders Atletico Madrid.

Maurizio Sarri’s side will be looking to bounce back from last Saturday’s shock Serie A defeat to bottom club Salernitana by reaching the knockout stages for the second time in three seasons, having lost to Bayern Munich 6-2 on aggregate in the last 16 in 2020-21.

Pedro’s stoppage-time goal at Celtic Park in October snatched Lazio a 2-1 win on matchday two, while their only group defeat this season was a 3-1 loss at Feyenoord last month.

Lazio qualified for the Champions League by finishing runners-up to Napoli in Serie A last season, but have struggled to maintain their domestic form in this campaign, losing six of their 13 games to sit 11th in the table.

Paris St Germain v Newcastle (Tuesday)

Luis Enrique: “The objective is always the same for us: to play a complete match in attack and defence.” #PSGNEW | #PSGlive pic.twitter.com/uDON8G1MCq

— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) November 27, 2023

Paris St Germain can secure their place in the last 16 for a 12th successive season if results go their way in Group F on matchday five.

Should the French champions avenge their humbling 4-1 defeat to Newcastle at St James’ Park in October with victory in the return at the Parc des Princes and Borussia Dortmund beat AC Milan in Italy, the Parisiens will go through.

But with all four group rivals still harbouring hopes of reaching the knockout stage with two games to play, it could all go down to the final round of matches.

Luis Enrique’s side have recovered from an indifferent start to their domestic season, winning seven of their last eight matches and last Friday’s 5-2 home win against Monaco kept them top of Ligue 1.

Manchester City v Leipzig (Tuesday)

Final prep Manchester #MCIRBL pic.twitter.com/1nk9OLMWLQ

— RB Leipzig English (@RBLeipzig_EN) November 27, 2023

Leipzig joined City as one of the first two sides to reach the knockout phase this season after winning 2-1 on the road against Red Star Belgrade in their previous Group G match.

The Germans’ only group defeat this season came last month against City, who won 3-1 at the Red Bull Arena, while victories over Red Star (twice) and Young Boys have left them a comfortable second in the table.

Leipzig secured Champions League football for a fifth straight year by finishing third in the Bundesliga last season behind champions Bayern Munich and Dortmund.

Marco Rose’s side have lost two of their last three domestic league games and currently sit fifth, while they have lost heavily on their last two visits to the Etihad Stadium, 6-3 in 2021 and 7-0 in March when Erling Haaland scored five goals.

Galatasaray v Manchester United (Wednesday)

Galatasaray will give their hopes of reaching the last 16 for the first time in 10 years a major boost if they can beat United for a second time in Group A this season.

The Turkish champions twice fought back to win 3-2 at Old Trafford in October thanks to Mauro Icardi’s late winner and currently sit third behind runaway leaders Bayern Munich, level on points with Copenhagen and a point better off than United.

Galatasaray won five and drew one of their six qualifying round matches before being drawn into Group A and while they have lost both group games to Bayern, they have also drawn with Copenhagen.

Okan Buruk led Galatasaray to a 23rd Super Lig title last season and his side currently sit second behind arch-rivals Fenerbahce on goal difference after losing only one of their first 13 domestic league matches.

Arsenal v Lens (Wednesday)

Lens, playing Champions League football for the third time, are still in the hunt to secure their first-ever slot in the round of 16.

Their 2-1 home win against Arsenal in October was sandwiched by 1-1 draws against both Sevilla and PSV Eindhoven and although the Gunners are four points clear at the top of Group B, any one of four teams can still qualify.

Lens, who were playing in Ligue 2 only three years ago, secured their place in this year’s Champions League with an impressive second-placed finish in Ligue 1, just a point behind PSG.

Franck Haise’s side failed to win any of their first five Ligue 1 games this season, losing four of them, but have since remained unbeaten and back-to-back wins in their last two domestic matches have lifted them up to sixth spot.