Champions League Fixtures: Last-16 draw, dates, schedule & format

The latest champions league fixtures update: the draw for the Champions League knockout phase will be held on Friday 27 February at 11: 00 GMT (11am UK time) in the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland, and will allocate opponents and bracket positions for the last 16.

Champions League Fixtures: Draw details and bracket mapping

Sixteen teams will discover their opponents in the knockout draw on Friday at 11: 00 GMT. The eight winners of the two-legged knockout-phase play-offs will join the top eight sides from the league-phase table in the draw. Friday's draw will also allocate a side of the bracket for all teams, meaning every club will know who they could potentially meet in the quarter-final, semi-final and final.

Who is already in the hat and play-off developments

Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur are already confirmed in the last-16 draw. Newcastle United are on course to reach the last 16 after a 6-1 win over Qarabag in their play-off first leg; Newcastle won that first leg in Azerbaijan before a scheduled meeting in the North-East the following Tuesday. Paris Saint-Germain beat Monaco 3-2 in the Principality and reconvene in the French capital on Wednesday evening.

Liverpool's path, opponents and match dates

Liverpool sealed automatic progression by finishing third in the league phase and will be drawn against one of Atletico Madrid, Galatasaray or Juventus from the knockout play-offs. In principle, Liverpool will be away for the first leg on 10 or 11 March and will host the return fixture at Anfield on 17 or 18 March. Friday's draw in Nyon will also map out the potential quarter-finals and semi-finals for all clubs.

Chelsea's route and potential opponents to the final

Chelsea reached this stage after a 3-2 victory in Naples last month, securing a top-eight finish in the league phase and thus avoiding the play-off round. That means Chelsea will meet one of the play-off winners in the Round of 16 and their possible opponents in the last 16 are Newcastle United, Qarabag, Paris Saint-Germain or Monaco. If Chelsea advance from their Round of 16 tie, they would follow the bracket and could face Galatasaray, Juventus, Tottenham, Liverpool, Atletico Madrid or Club Brugge in the quarter-finals. The winners of the semi-final on the silver side of the bracket will be designated as the nominal home team for the final.

Seeding, bracket inheritance and match format

• The competition adopts a knockout format from the last 16 onward; every tie except the final is contested over two legs.
• The eight teams that finished in the top eight of the league phase are seeded for the last 16 and have the advantage of playing the second leg at home.
• This is the first season where league-phase position will also influence seeding for the quarter-final and semi-finals: teams finishing first to fourth will be seeded for the quarter-finals and therefore play the second leg of their quarter-final at home.
• The two sides who finish top and runner-up in the league are seeded for the semi-finals and would play the second leg of their semi-final at home should they reach that stage.
• If a seeded team does not progress to the quarter-finals or semi-finals, the team that knocks them out will inherit their seeding position.
• As in the previous rounds, the team placed in the bottom row of each match pairing will play the second leg of that tie at home.

The draw will be streamed live on official digital platforms and broadcast in the UK; the specific platform listings in the provided context are not reproduced here. The dates for the remainder of the knockout phase are as follows: unclear in the provided context.

The Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary will host the 2025-26 final on 30 May.

Summary checklist: the draw is on Friday 27 February at 11: 00 GMT in Nyon; last-16 first legs take place on 10 or 11 March with return legs on 17-18 March; seeded advantages and bracket inheritance rules will determine home legs through to the semi-finals; confirmed teams and play-off possibilities are listed above for clubs including Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United.