Man City rallies to beat Club Brugge and advance in Champions League. PSG also wins and stays in

GENEVA (AP) — Manchester City stayed in the Champions League, barely. Paris Saint-Germain saved its elite status in style.

Both had risked embarrassing exits before winning on Wednesday, grateful to be among the 24 teams in the knockout stage. In the new playoffs-round draw Friday, they will also find defending champion Real Madrid or Bayern Munich who finished in mid-table after the 36-team standings was finalized.

City flirted with a disaster before rallying to beat Club Brugge 3-1 in a must-win game. Trailing 1-0 at halftime, and then sitting 26th in the live standings, the 2023 title-winner was sparked by substitute Savinho to avoid elimination.

“In the second half we let our souls and hearts free,” said City manager Pep Guardiola, who had an anguished evening on the sidelines and was shown a yellow card.

City finished 22nd but relief turns to the realization that its playoff round opponent will be either Madrid or Bayern, which slotted into the bracket possibilities in, respectively, 11th and 12th place.

PSG started play in 22nd before cruising to a 4-1 win at Stuttgart, fired by Ousmane Dembélé's hat trick, that eliminated the German club.

The French champion impressed again after a crucial 4-2 comeback win over Man City one week ago, and rose to 15th place. Still, that puts PSG on a path to meet either Liverpool or Barcelona in the round of 16 in March if it wins an all-French playoff against either Monaco or Brest.

Liverpool topped the standings despite a 3-2 loss with a weakened team at PSV Eindhoven, and Barcelona ended runner-up after a 2-2 draw with Atalanta.

Only the top eight teams go direct to the round of 16 and that excludes Madrid, which won 3-0 at Brest, and Bayern, a 3-1 winner against Slovan Bratislava.

Inter Milan, Arsenal and Atletico Madrid sealed top-eight finishes as expected with low-key wins. Inter beat Monaco 3-0, Arsenal won 2-1 at Girona and Atletico won 4-1 at Salzburg, which had a woeful campaign.

Bayer Leverkusen, Lille — which thrashed Feyenoord 6-1 — and Aston Villa completed the top eight.

Stuttgart dropped to 26th place and was eliminated along with Dinamo Zagreb, despite its 2-1 win over AC Milan whose United States playmaker Christian Pulisic had leveled the game. Milan can face Juventus in the playoffs round.

Brugge took the 24th qualification place ahead of Dinamo on the tiebreaker of goal difference.

An unprecedented Champions League night of 18 games playing at the same time — completing the new 144-game opening phase format – ended with no shock exits though final standings that defied expectations.

Three English teams finished in the top eight but not Man City.

Two Spanish teams finished in the top eight but not Real Madrid.

The one German team in the top eight is not Bayern, and the one French team is not PSG.

Those four wealthy powers of European soccer found the new eight-game format trickier than expected. They now have the burden of two extra games on back-to-back midweeks in February to earn round of 16 places that were routine in the old group-stage format.

Villa joined Liverpool and Arsenal in the top eight by beating Celtic 4-2 to rise to 16 points — the cut that meant avoiding the playoffs.

UEFA’s preseason prediction of eight points to enter the knockout phase proved far off the mark.

Dinamo got 11 points and still was eliminated, ensuring no team from eastern Europe will be in the knockout phase.

The lowest-ranked country in Friday’s playoffs round draw is Scotland, whose champion Celtic finished 21st, one place and one point above Man City.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

PSV's goalkeeper Walter Benitez saves over Liverpool's Cody Gakpo during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between PSV and Liverpool at Phillips Stadium in Eindhoven, Netherlands, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Barcelona's Gavi, left, vies for the ball with Atalanta's Ederson during a Champions League opening phase soccer between Barcelona and Atalanta match at the Lluis Companys Olympic stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins, background, celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Aston Villa and Celtic at Villa Park in Birmingham, England, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)

Brugge's Raphael Onyedika, bottom, celebrates with teammates after scoring the opening goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Manchester City and Club Brugge at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)

Real Madrid's Rodrygo, left, celebrates with his teammate Kylian Mbappe after scoring his side's third goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Brest and Real Madrid at Roudourou stadium in Guingamp, France, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe controls the ball during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Brest and Real Madrid at Roudourou stadium in Guingamp, France, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

PSG's Bradley Barcola, centre right, celebrates with Desire Doue after scoring the opening goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between VfB Stuttgart and Paris Saint-Germain in Stuttgart, Germany, Jan. 29, 2025. (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP)

Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola celebrates with Bernardo Silva afte the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Manchester City and Club Brugge at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)

PSG's Bradley Barcola, centre right, scores the opening goal past Stuttgart's goalkeeper Fabian Bredlow during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between VfB Stuttgart and Paris Saint-Germain in Stuttgart, Germany, Jan. 29, 2025. (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP)

Sparta's Tomas Wiesner heads the ball during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Bayer Leverkusen and Sparta Prague at the BayArena in Leverkusen, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Inter Milan's Lautaro Martinez scores from penalty during a Champions League soccer match between Inter Milan and Monaco, at the San Siro stadium in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Brugge's Raphael Onyedika celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Manchester City and Club Brugge at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)

Dortmund's Serhou Guirassy scores the opening goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Borussia Dortmund and Shakhtar Donetsk in Dortmund, Germany, Jan. 29, 2025. (Bernd Thissen/dpa via AP)

PSG's Bradley Barcola, centre right, celebrates with Desire Doue after scoring the opening goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between VfB Stuttgart and Paris Saint-Germain in Stuttgart, Germany, Jan. 29, 2025. (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP)

Manchester City's Savinho, left, scores his side's third goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Manchester City and Club Brugge at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)

Manchester City's Josko Gvardiol, left, celebrates after his cross led to an own goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Manchester City and Club Brugge at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

Leverkusen's head coach Xabi Alonso, right, during a training session in Leverkusen, Germany, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025 ahead of the Champions League soccer match between Bayer 04 Leverkusen and AC Sparta Praha. (Federico Gambarini/dpa via AP)

Bayern's head coach Vincent Kompany arrives for a news conference in Munich, Germany, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, ahead of the Champions League opening phase soccer match between FC Bayern and Slovan Bratislava. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Bayern's Harry Kane controls a ball during a training session in Munich, Germany, Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025, ahead of the Champions League opening phase soccer match between FC Bayern and Slovan Bratislava. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe, right, hugs his coach Carlo Ancelotti as he leaves the pitch during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Real Madrid and FC Salzburg at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Manchester City's Erling Haaland, left, attends a training session in Manchester, England, Tuesday Jan. 28, 2025, ahead of the Champions League soccer match between Manchester City and Club Brugge KV. (Martin Rickett/PA via AP)

PSG's Goncalo Ramos celebrates after scoring his side's fourth goal during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City at the Parc des Princes in Paris, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola reacts during a press conference at the City Football Academy in Manchester, England, Tuesday Jan. 28, 2025. (Martin Rickett/PA via AP)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)