Champions League Live Blog: Newcastle favourites to beat Qarabag and reach last 16 | OneFootball

Friday 30 January - Magpies fancied and Madrid to meet Mourinho again

Newcastle are the favourites to win their Champions League play-off against Qarabag when the teams meet for the first leg on 17 or 18 February.

Eddie Howe's men are 4/11 to win in Azerbaijan and take an advantage back to St James' Park for the following week's second leg.

The winner of the Qarabag v Newcastle tie will play Barcelona or Chelsea in the last-16.

Newcastle finished the league phase 12th in the table, ending the campaign with an impressive 1-1 draw at holders PSG, while Qarabag finished 22nd after losing their final match 6-0 to Liverpool at Anfield.

In the meantime, Newcastle travel to Liverpool in this weekend's Premier League action.

Other standout ties from today's draw see an all-French play-off between PSG and Monaco and Real Madrid up against Jose Mourinho's Benifca again.

The Portuguese side beat the Spanish giants 4-2 in Lisbon on Wednesday and will face off again there for the first leg before the second at the Bernabeu.

Madrid have won Europe's premier club competition a record 15 times but their failure to finish in the top eight of the league phase was the latest chapter in a troubled season. Alvaro Arbeloa is in charge until the end of the season, following Xabi Alonso's sacking, and Aston Villa boss Unai Emery became the favourite to get the job permanently yesterday.

Mourinho will relish the opportunity to once again rub salt in the wounds of his former-club.

Champions League play-offs draw in full

Bodo/Glimt v Inter Milan

Benfica v Real Madrid

Monaco v Paris St-Germain

Qarabag v Newcastle

Galatasaray v Juventus

Club Brugge v Atletico Madrid

Borussia Dortmund v Atalanta

Olympiacos v Bayer Leverkusen

Thursday 29 January - Gunners 7/2 for Champions League glory

Arsenal are 7/2 favourites to win the Champions League after five English clubs qualified for the last-16 and another - Newcastle - booked their place in the play-offs.

The Gunners finished top of the Champions League table, winning all eight of their matches, while Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham also finished in the top eight to go through to the first knockout round.

Newcastle await Champions League play-off opponents

Newcastle will join them there if they win their two-legged play-off tie. The Magpies, who earned their place via an impressive 1-1 draw at holders Paris Saint-Germain - which was tipped at 4/1 by our match previewer - will find out whether they play Monaco or Qarabag in Friday's draw which will involve the teams that finished between ninth and 24th in the table.

If Newcastle come through their play-off, they will play Barcelona or Chelsea in the last-16. A clash between the Blues and the Magpies is the only possible all-English tie in the last-16.

The first legs of the play-offs take place on either 17 or 18 February and the second legs are the following week.

Arteta's 100 per centers top the table

Arsenal beat the Champions League bottom-club Kairat 3-2 at the Emirates to confirm their place at the top of the table.

The win completed an immaculate league stage campaign and going through in first place means they avoid some of the competition's strongest opponents in the last-16. They will play one of Dortmund, Olympiakos, Atalanta or Bayer Leverkusen.

To win the Champions League - Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City, Spurs

Manchester City are 13/2 after confirming their place in the last-16 with a 2-0 win over Galatasaray.

In Pep Guardiola they have a manager who has won the competition three times, although Real Madrid, who knocked them out in the play-offs at this stage last season, are among the teams they could play, along with Bodo/Glimt, who beat City last week, Jose Mourinho's Benfica or last season's runners-up Inter Milan.

Liverpool continued to show no signs of their Premier League troubles when playing in the Champions League and walloped Qarabag 6-0 at Anfield. The Reds are 9/1 to win the tournament for a seventh time.

They will play one of Club Brugge, Galatasaray, Juventus or Atletico Madrid.

Tottenham will also play one of the above quartet after they wrapped up an impressive league campaign by winning 2-0 at Frankfurt. Spurs are 25/1 to follow last season's Europa League win by winning the big one this term.

Chelsea grabbed sixth-place with a thrilling 3-2 win over Napoli in Italy. The result saw Antonio Conte's Serie A champions dumped out of the competition. The Blues are 16/1 to go all the way ahead of their last-16 tie with Monaco, Qarabag, Paris St-Germain or Newcastle.

Come back tomorrow to read an update here on the latest Champions League odds after the draw for the play-offs.