Champions League Draw Will Place Six Premier League Clubs in Last-16 Bracket
The champions league draw on Friday at 11: 00 GMT will determine last-16 opponents and place every surviving side into the knockout bracket, with Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham and Newcastle all in the hat. The procedure will also map potential quarter-final and semi-final paths, making Friday’s allocation pivotal for planning and seeding advantages.
Champions League Draw: date, time and format
The draw is scheduled for Friday, February 27, starting at 11: 00 GMT. Sixteen teams will discover their opponents when the eight winners of the two-legged knockout play-offs join the top eight from the league phase in the last-16 draw. The draw will not only pair teams for the last 16 but will allocate a side of the bracket so each club will know who they could meet in the quarter-final, semi-final and final.
Last-16 ties are two-legged: first legs will be played on either 10 or 11 March, with the reverse fixtures on 17-18 March. The competition remains knockout from this stage, with the final—set for the 2025-26 season—scheduled at the Puskas Arena in Budapest on 30 May. Seeding rules grant the eight top-ranked league-phase sides the advantage of playing the second leg at home in the last 16, and for the first time league-phase finishing positions will also influence seeding for the quarter-finals and semi-finals.
Newcastle: Qarabag progression, Chelsea or Barcelona in waiting
Newcastle have joined the other English qualifiers after completing their play-off tie with Qarabag, winning 9-3 on aggregate. That success followed a 6-1 first-leg victory in the play-off, clearing them into the last 16. The Magpies are set to face either Chelsea or Barcelona in the last 16.
Because of how the bracket will be drawn, Newcastle will also discover whether Tottenham or Liverpool lie in their quarter-final path and whether a potential semi-final could pit them against Manchester City or Arsenal. The earliest all-English match-up possible in the last 16 is Newcastle versus Chelsea.
Liverpool: Atletico confirmed, Juventus or Galatasaray to decide the other option
Atletico Madrid have been confirmed as one of Liverpool’s two possible last-16 opponents after completing a 7-4 aggregate victory over Club Brugge in the play-offs. Atletico’s progress sets up a tie that could be against Liverpool or Tottenham. Liverpool’s other potential rival will be the winner of the Juventus versus Galatasaray tie; Galatasaray hold a 5-2 advantage after the first leg in Istanbul.
The draw on Friday at 11: 00 GMT will make Liverpool’s opposition definitive.
Manchester City, Arsenal and key remaining play-off outcomes
Bodo/Glimt eliminated Inter Milan and are poised to face either Manchester City or Sporting in the last 16. Manchester City’s possible opponents listed prior to the play-offs included Bodo/Glimt, Inter Milan, Real Madrid or Benfica; after midweek results some of those permutations will be narrowed to two for each seeded English club.
Arsenal’s potential opponents were listed as Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen or Atalanta in differing projections before play-offs closed; Bayer Leverkusen themselves will face Bayern Munich or Arsenal. Borussia Dortmund hold a 2-0 lead over Atalanta with the winner set to play either Arsenal or Bayern Munich. Real Madrid lead Benfica 1-0 and could set up a tie that would place them against Sporting or Manchester City. Defending champions Paris Saint-Germain hold a 3-2 lead before hosting Monaco, with the Monaco winner slated to face Chelsea or Barcelona.
Those permutations illustrate how midweek play-offs have reduced several four-way possibilities down to two for Friday’s draw.
Implications for seeding and all-English ties
Seeding will have concrete effects on home advantage: seeded sides—those finishing in the top eight of the league phase—will play the second leg of the last 16 at home. For the quarter-finals, teams finishing first to fourth in the league phase will be seeded and given the second-leg home advantage; the two sides finishing top two will also inherit seeding for the semi-finals and thus the right to play the second leg at home, should they progress. If a seeded team fails to reach a later round, the team that eliminates them will inherit their seeding position.
The timing matters because the bracket draw on Friday will immediately clarify which English clubs could meet each other: the earliest chance for an all-English tie is Newcastle versus Chelsea in the last 16, while other domestic meetings would first be possible in the quarter-finals, including Manchester City against Arsenal and either Chelsea or Newcastle potentially meeting Tottenham or Liverpool. What makes this notable is that the interplay of recent play-off results and the league-phase seeding rules will shape home-leg advantages deep into the knockout phase.
On Wednesday the names in the hat will be confirmed and the draw on Friday will complete the last-16, quarter-final and semi-final bracket for the competition.
