Champions League finale: PSG vs Newcastle showdown, City’s play-off peril, and Mourinho’s master-apprentice duel | OneFootball

It's a blockbuster night of Champions League action tonight as the league phase concludes. With so much still to play for, here's what you should be looking out for.

Paris Saint-Germain vs Newcastle: Who will be ousted from the eight?

Arguably the biggest game of the night takes place at the Parc des Princes. The holders,Paris Saint-Germain, have not looked quite so strong this time around and lost to Sporting Lisbon last week.

Now, they're at risk of missing the cut for the top eight, ahead of facing a Newcastle side who sit one place below them, with an identical European record this season.

The winners will almost certainly secure automatic progress to the Round of 16, with the losers likely to face a play-off. Draw, and there's a high chance both will face that unwanted two-legged tie next month. There's plenty at stake in Paris.

Can Conte avoid (another) European embarrassment against old side?

Antonio Conte has been one of Europe's great coaches over the last two decades. You certainly don't win six league titles, across four different teams, and two different countries, unless you've got some idea what you're doing.

But if Conte has had a magnetic pull on the Scudetto, the opposite can be said of Europe. TheChampions League, in particular, has been his kryptonite. Conte has never progressed past the quarter-finals and has won just 34.69% of his games in the competition.

Now, hisNapoli side sit as the biggest team outside the qualification places heading into the final fixtures, ahead of a clash with former club Chelsea.

Master Mourinho meets apprentice Arbeloa in Lisbon

Antonio Conte is not the only big name facing off against his old employers.Jose Mourinho will lead his Benfica side against Real Madrid this evening, knowing nothing but a win will be enough to progress.

The fixture will pit Mourinho against Alvaro Arbeloa, the novice coach brought in to replace Xabi Alonso this month. Arbeloa has steadied the Spaniards after a stuttering start, with three straight wins lifting Los Blancos.

The Spaniard played under Mourinho during the latter's time at the Bernabeu and will be keen to show 'The Special One' just what he learned.

Will Manchester City avoid a play-off?

Heading into the final fixtures, just one of the record six Premier League teams in this season'sChampions League sits outside the top eight; Manchester City.

After their nightmare in Norway last week,losing to UCL debutants Bodo/Glimt, City crashed out of the top eight. Given just how congested the league phase table is, where City end up after tonight's fixtures is anyone's guess.

The teams from sixth to 13th are all locked together on 13 points, while City's opponents this evening - 17th-placed Galatasaray - could even leapfrog them with an emphatic win at the Etihad.

As City aim to hunt downArsenal