Champions League Draw sets last-16 matchups as Atletico confirmed for Liverpool
The champions league draw will take place on Friday, February 27 from 11: 00 GMT and will pair 16 teams for the knockout last 16 while also allocating each side of the bracket to map potential quarter-final and semi-final routes. The timing matters because the draw not only names opponents but fixes who will benefit from newly extended seeding rules that affect home advantage deep into the competition.
Champions League Draw: schedule, bracket and final venue
The draw on Friday will determine the last-16 ties and place every club on one side of the knockout bracket, so teams will immediately know which quarter-final and semi-final opponents are possible. Last-16 first legs are scheduled for either 10 or 11 March, with the reverse fixtures set for 17-18 March. The competition’s final for the 2025-26 season will be held at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary on 30 May.
Newcastle: Qarabag results, aggregate score and knockout opponent
Newcastle progressed from the play-offs after overturning Qarabag, producing a 6-1 win in the first leg and completing the tie with a 9-3 aggregate victory. That progress has secured the Magpies a place alongside Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham in the last 16. Newcastle are drawn to face either Chelsea or Barcelona in their knockout tie, and Friday’s draw will also show whether Tottenham or Liverpool could be a potential quarter-final opponent and whether a semi-final with Manchester City or Arsenal might be on the cards.
Liverpool: Atletico Madrid confirmed and Juventus–Galatasaray decider
Atletico Madrid have been confirmed as the first of Liverpool’s two possible opponents after completing a 7-4 aggregate win over Club Brugge in the play-off round. Liverpool’s other potential rival will be decided by the Juventus versus Galatasaray tie, in which Galatasaray hold a 5-2 advantage after the first leg in Istanbul. The draw at 11: 00 GMT on Friday will confirm which of those sides Liverpool will face in the last 16.
Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham: seedings and listed potential opponents
Clubs already know the pool of opponents they could draw. Top seeds Arsenal are set to be drawn against one of Olympiakos, Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen or Atalanta. Liverpool and Tottenham, who finished third and fourth respectively in the league phase, will meet one of Atletico Madrid, Club Brugge, Galatasaray or Juventus. Manchester City will be drawn against one of Bodo/Glimt, Inter Milan, Real Madrid or Benfica.
Several play-off outcomes already shape those lists: Bodo/Glimt eliminated Inter Milan and will face either Manchester City or Sporting; Bayer Leverkusen will take on the winner of Bayern Munich or Arsenal; Borussia Dortmund hold a 2-0 first-leg lead over Atalanta for the right to play Arsenal or Bayern Munich; Real Madrid lead Benfica 1-0 and could set up a tie with Sporting or Manchester City; and defending champions Paris Saint-Germain hold a 3-2 lead heading into their hosting of Monaco, with the winner set to face Chelsea or Barcelona.
Seeding rules from the league phase and their competitive impact
The eight winners of the two-legged knockout play-offs will join the top eight teams from the league phase in the draw. From that stage the competition adopts a straight knockout format, with each fixture other than the final contested over two legs. Final position in the league phase influences seeding for the last 16: seeded sides, meaning those that finished in the top eight, receive the advantage of playing the second leg at home.
This season introduces an extension of that principle: league-phase position will also influence seeding for the quarter-finals and semi-finals. Teams finishing first to fourth will be seeded for the quarter-finals and therefore given home advantage in their quarter-final second legs. The two sides that finish top and runner-up will be seeded for the semi-finals and would play the second leg of their semis at home, should they reach that stage. If a seeded team fails to progress, the team that eliminates them inherits their seeding position.
What makes this notable is how league-phase placement now carries tangible home-leg benefits through multiple knockout rounds, altering the value of finishing higher in the initial table and raising the stakes of the draw beyond immediate last-16 matchups.
With the midweek play-offs concluded, the field for Friday’s draw is confirmed and English clubs will find out whether domestic meetings are possible early: the earliest all-English clash would be Newcastle against Chelsea in the last 16, while other all-English encounters could first occur in the quarter-finals, including scenarios where Manchester City might meet Arsenal and Chelsea or Newcastle could face Tottenham or Liverpool.
