Champions League Standings: Last-16 draw confirmed for Friday — date, time, format and who could meet who
The latest turn in the Champions League scene sees the last-16 draw set for Friday February 27 at 11: 00 GMT (6: 00 ET), a moment that will reshape the bracket and crystallize the routes teams face en route to the final. Fans tracking champions league standings should note the draw will not only pair opponents but also allocate each side of the knockout bracket, clarifying potential quarter-final and semi-final paths.
Champions League Standings: draw timing, scope and what it decides
The draw on Friday at 11: 00 GMT (6: 00 ET) will determine the last-16 ties and place each qualifier on one side of the knockout bracket. That placement means teams will immediately know the opponents they could meet in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and ultimately the final. The last-16 phase itself remains two-legged for all ties, with the exception of the final.
Key scheduling details already set: last-16 first legs are scheduled for either 10 or 11 March, with the return legs on 17-18 March. The season’s final is set to be staged at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, with the final date listed as 30 May for the 2025-26 showpiece.
Who has already qualified and the play-off winners joining the draw
Several English clubs are confirmed in the last 16, including Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle. Newcastle secured their place by winning their play-off 9-3 on aggregate over Qarabag. The draw will combine the eight top finishers from the league phase with the eight winners of the two-legged knockout play-offs to form the last-16 pairings.
Seeding is driven by league-phase ranking: the top eight finishers in the league phase are seeded and will have the advantage of playing the second legs of last-16 ties at home. The league-phase positions will also influence seeding in later rounds under this season’s format changes — teams finishing first to fourth will be seeded for the quarter-finals, and the top two will be seeded for the semi-finals. If a seeded side is eliminated, their conqueror inherits that seeding position for the purposes of later-round advantages.
Potential last-16 matchups and bracket scenarios
Some tie possibilities are already narrowed. Arsenal could be drawn against Bayer Leverkusen or Atalanta. Newcastle will face either Chelsea or Barcelona in their last-16 tie. Other projected opponents include matchups where Liverpool might draw Atletico Madrid or a Galatasaray/Juventus winner, and Manchester City could be paired with either Bodo/Glimt or the Benfica/Real Madrid play-off winner. Tottenham is in line to draw Atletico Madrid or the Galatasaray/Juventus path.
Recent midweek results have trimmed the list of potential opponents for several clubs: Atletico Madrid set up a clash with either Tottenham or Liverpool; Bodo/Glimt advanced to meet either Manchester City or Sporting; Bayer Leverkusen will go up against Bayern Munich or Arsenal; and high-stakes ties remain pending in other ties that feed into the last-16 draw. Defending champions hold a narrow lead in their pending play-off, and multiple European giants enter the draw with conditional opponents depending on play-off outcomes.
With the draw placing teams into a full bracket, the earliest opportunities for all-domestic meetings are clarified: an all-English clash could occur in the last 16 where Newcastle might face Chelsea, while other English pairings would only be possible from the quarter-final stage given current bracket rules and seedings.
Fans following champions league standings will want to watch the draw closely at 11: 00 GMT (6: 00 ET) on Friday February 27. The bracket allocation and the new seeding mechanics tied to league-phase positions change the strategic outlook for clubs, making this draw a pivotal moment for teams plotting their route to the Puskas Arena final on 30 May. Details may evolve as remaining play-offs conclude and the draw is completed.
