Champions League draw sets knockout play-off ties for February
The champions league draw on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026, locked in the two-legged knockout play-off matchups that will decide who reaches the round of 16 in the revamped competition format. The UEFA Champions League draw was held in Nyon, Switzerland at 6:00 a.m. ET, pairing teams that finished 9th through 24th in the league phase into eight ties to be played across midweeks in February.
For fans searching for the “ucl draw,” the headline is simple: several heavyweights now face tricky routes to the last 16, including a quick rematch between Benfica and Real Madrid and an all-French meeting between Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain.
Champions League draw sets playoff ties
The knockout play-off ties (first team listed hosts the first leg) are:
| Tie | Matchup |
|---|---|
| 1 | Benfica vs Real Madrid |
| 2 | Monaco vs Paris Saint-Germain |
| 3 | Galatasaray vs Juventus |
| 4 | Qarabağ vs Newcastle United |
| 5 | Club Brugge vs Atlético de Madrid |
| 6 | Borussia Dortmund vs Atalanta |
The remaining two ties are Bodø/Glimt vs Inter and Olympiacos vs Bayer Leverkusen.
Real Madrid’s rematch and PSG’s derby
The standout pairing is Benfica vs Real Madrid, coming soon after Benfica’s dramatic league-phase win over Madrid that helped push the Spanish side into the play-off positions. The quick turnaround adds an extra edge: the tie offers Real Madrid a direct chance to respond, while Benfica gets a high-profile opportunity to prove the earlier result was no one-off.
Another attention-grabber is Monaco vs Paris Saint-Germain, a domestic matchup that removes any travel or unfamiliarity factors and turns the tie into a tactical chess match shaped by recent Ligue 1 knowledge. For PSG, the pressure is amplified: the club entered the play-offs rather than finishing in the league-phase top eight, leaving less margin for error.
How the new play-off round works
This stage exists because the Champions League now runs a single league-phase table before the knockout rounds. The top eight sides in that table advance directly to the round of 16, while places 9–24 must survive this additional two-leg hurdle.
Seeding still matters. Teams that finished 9–16 were seeded and will host the second leg at home, a meaningful advantage in a format where ties often swing late. There is also no association protection at this stage, so clubs from the same country can be drawn against one another, as Monaco and PSG were.
Dates and the next draw
The play-offs will be played over two midweeks: Feb. 17–18, 2026 for the first legs and Feb. 24–25, 2026 for the second legs (all dates ET; kickoff times vary by fixture). The eight winners will then move into the round of 16.
The next major calendar moment is the round of 16 draw on Feb. 27, 2026 (ET), which will also set the bracket path beyond the last 16 under the current competition rules. That draw is expected to clarify who faces the league-phase top eight and how the tournament route shapes up toward the final.
Who is already through and why it matters
Eight clubs are already guaranteed a place in the round of 16: Arsenal, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Sporting CP, and Tottenham. That group’s early qualification raises the stakes for the play-off round: teams like Real Madrid, Inter, Juventus, and Atlético must now spend two extra matches simply to join the bracket, adding both schedule strain and upset risk.
With February approaching quickly, the most immediate storyline is momentum. Clubs that ended the league phase strongly will try to carry form into a short, high-leverage window, while sides that stumbled late have little time to correct course. The play-off round is designed to create exactly this kind of volatility—and Friday’s matchups delivered it.
Sources consulted: UEFA, Reuters, ESPN, Sky Sports, Al Jazeera
