Champions League Draw: champions league draw on Friday at 11:00 GMT
Sixteen teams will discover their opponents in the champions league draw on Friday at 11: 00 GMT, with the draw for the last 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals scheduled for Friday, February 27. The eight winners of the two-legged knockout phase play-offs will join the top eight sides from the league-phase table in that draw.
Champions League Draw procedure
Friday's draw will also allocate a side of the bracket for all teams, meaning they will know who they could potentially meet in the quarter-final, semi-final and final. From this point onward the competition adopts a knockout format, with each fixture other than the final contested over two legs. As with the play-offs, teams' final ranking in the league phase will influence seeding in the last 16, with seeded sides - those that finished in the top eight of the league - being given the advantage of playing second legs at home.
Teams already in the hat
Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur were already in the hat, with Newcastle joining them in the last 16 after a 9-3 aggregate win over Qarabag in the play-off round. Clubs already know who the opponents they could face in the Champions League last 16, and on Wednesday the names in the hat for the last-16 were confirmed following the midweek play-offs.
Play-off winners and ties
Atletico Madrid completed a 7-4 aggregate victory over Club Brugge on Tuesday evening and have been confirmed as the first of Liverpool's two possible opponents in the last 16. The Reds' other potential rival will emerge from the tie between Juventus and Galatasaray on Wednesday night; Galatasaray hold a 5-2 advantage over Juve after the first leg in Istanbul. Bodo/Glimt eliminated Inter Milan and will face either Manchester City or Sporting, while Bayer Leverkusen will play Bayern Munich or Arsenal.
Mapping of potential matchups
Specific potential opponents named ahead of Friday's draw include: Arsenal could be drawn against one of Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen or Atalanta. More detailed pairings noted before the draw list Arsenal as facing Bayer Leverkusen or Borussia Dortmund/Atalanta; Chelsea as facing Newcastle or Monaco/PSG; Liverpool as facing Atletico Madrid or Galatasaray/Juventus; Manchester City as facing Bodo/Glimt or Benfica/Real Madrid; Newcastle as facing Chelsea or Barcelona; and Tottenham as facing Atletico Madrid or Galatasaray/Juventus.
Seeding, schedule and bracket
This is the first season that the position in which teams have placed in the league phase will also influence seeding for the quarter-final and semi-finals. Teams finishing first to fourth at the end of the league phase will be seeded for the quarter-finals and therefore given the home advantage in their quarter-final tie second legs. The two sides who finish top and runner-up in the league will also be seeded for the semi-finals, earning them the benefit of playing the second leg of their semis at home should they reach that stage. If a seeded team does not progress to the quarter or semi-finals, the team that knocks them out will inherit their seeding position.
Dates, venues and domestic permutations
Last-16 first legs will take place on either 10 or 11 March, with the reverse fixtures scheduled for 17-18 March. The Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary will host the 2025-26 final on 30 May. The earliest opportunity for two English sides to meet is in the last 16, when Newcastle could come up against Chelsea. The earliest opportunity for any other all-English meetings is in the quarter-finals, when Manchester City could meet Arsenal and Chelsea or Newcastle could meet Tottenham or Liverpool. At the start of the week the English sides which progressed to the last 16 knew their opponents would be one of four sides; with the midweek play-offs concluding, that will be down to two for Friday's draw.
Other midweek situations of note include Paris Saint-Germain holding a 3-2 lead before hosting Monaco, with the winner set to face Chelsea or Barcelona; Real Madrid leading Benfica 1-0 and able to set up a tie with Sporting or Manchester City; and Borussia Dortmund holding a 2-0 lead over Atalanta for the right to play Arsenal or Bayern Munich. Questions and narratives already flagged in coverage include whether seven Premier League clubs could qualify for the Champions League and the suggestion that Italian clubs are on the brink of historic Champions League embarrassment.
The champions league draw on Friday will complete the picture and confirm every last-16 pairing and the route through the bracket to the quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final at the Puskas Arena.
