Champions League Draw: Last-16 dates, schedule, format and who could meet whom
The champions league draw will take place on Friday at 11: 00 GMT (Friday 27 February at 11am UK time), when 16 teams discover their last-16 opponents and the bracket path through to the final is allocated. This draw sets matchups for the last 16 and determines potential quarter-final and semi-final routes, with immediate implications for seeding and home-leg advantages.
Champions League Draw: when and where the draw happens
The draw is scheduled for Friday 27 February at 11: 00 GMT and will take place in the House of European football in Nyon, Switzerland. It will be streamed live on the competition's official platforms and on the competition app, and it will be broadcast in the UK on national television channels. The exact on-screen feeds and channel line-ups are not specified in the provided context.
Who is already in the last 16 and recent qualifiers
Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur had already secured places in the last 16. Newcastle United joined them after a play-off tie win over Qarabag, progressing 9-3 on aggregate; Newcastle won the first leg 6-1 in Azerbaijan and followed that with a 3-2 victory in the North-East. Chelsea reached this stage thanks to a 3-2 win in Naples last month, which secured a top-eight finish in the league phase and meant Chelsea avoided the play-off round.
Play-off winners, seeded sides and the bracket
The eight winners of the two-legged knockout phase play-offs will join the top eight finishers from the league-phase table in Friday's draw. The draw will also allocate each side of the bracket so teams will know potential quarter-final, semi-final and final opponents. From this point the competition adopts a knockout format: each fixture other than the final is contested over two legs.
Seeding in the last 16 is influenced by teams' final ranking in the league phase. Seeded sides—those that finished in the top eight of the league phase—are given the advantage of playing second legs at home in the last 16. This season introduces further use of league-phase positions for seeding beyond the last 16: teams finishing first to fourth will be seeded for the quarter-finals and be given home advantage in the second legs of quarter-final ties.
How seeding affects semi-finals, quarter-final inheritance and match order
The two sides who finish top and runner-up in the league phase will be 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. In match pairings, the team in the bottom row of each pairing will play the second leg of that tie at home. The winners of the semi-final on the 'silver' side of the bracket will be designated as the nominal home team for the final.
Match dates, final venue and remaining schedule details
Last-16 first legs are scheduled for either 10 or 11 March, with the reverse fixtures set for 17-18 March. The Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary will host the 2025-26 final on 30 May. The dates for the remainder of the knockout phase beyond those fixtures are outlined in the original briefing but are unclear in the provided context.
Potential last-16 opponents and key tie permutations
Clubs already know which teams they could draw in the last 16. Top seeds Arsenal will be drawn against one of Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen or Atalanta. Several other potential matchups and tie pathways confirmed in the play-off stage are listed below:
- Arsenal: Bayer Leverkusen or Borussia Dortmund/Atalanta
- Chelsea: Newcastle United or Monaco/Paris Saint-Germain
- Liverpool: Atletico Madrid or Galatasaray/Juventus
- Manchester City: Bodo/Glimt or Benfica/Real Madrid
- Newcastle United: Chelsea or Barcelona
- Tottenham Hotspur: Atletico Madrid or Galatasaray/Juventus
Additional confirmed play-off situations shaping possible last-16 ties include Atletico Madrid lining up a tie with either Tottenham or Liverpool; Bodo/Glimt eliminating Inter Milan and set to face either Manchester City or Sporting; Bayer Leverkusen set to play Bayern Munich or Arsenal; Paris Saint-Germain holding a 3-2 lead before hosting Monaco, with that winner set to face Chelsea or Barcelona; Galatasaray holding a 5-2 advantage over Juventus for the chance to play Liverpool or Tottenham; Real Madrid leading Benfica 1-0 for the chance 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.
At the start of the week English sides knew their opponents would be one of four possible clubs; with the midweek play-offs concluding, that was reduced to two possibilities each for Friday's draw. 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.
The names in the hat for the last 16 were confirmed on Wednesday ahead of Friday's draw.
