When Is The Champions League Draw — Time, Last-16 Opponents, Liverpool's Pairings and Seeding Changes
When Is The Champions League Draw: Sixteen teams will discover their opponents on Friday at 11: 00 GMT, a single event that fixes last-16 ties, assigns each side of the bracket and determines potential quarter-final and semi-final paths.
When Is The Champions League Draw — schedule and immediate impact
The draw takes place on Friday at 11: 00 GMT and will pair the eight winners of the two-legged knockout phase play-offs with the top eight finishers from the league-phase table. Friday's draw will also allocate a side of the bracket for all teams, meaning clubs will know who they could potentially meet in the quarter-final, semi-final and final.
Confirmed teams in the hat and key last-16 pairings
Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur were already in the hat. Newcastle joined 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: top seeds Arsenal will be drawn against Bayer Leverkusen or Atalanta.
Confirmed: Liverpool's two possible opponents in the last 16
Liverpool will meet either Atletico Madrid or Galatasaray in the last 16. Galatasaray emerged as the winners from their two-legged knockout play-off tie with Juventus on Wednesday night. Atletico had secured their place in the Round of 16 by overcoming Club Brugge on aggregate on Tuesday evening. The Reds progressed from the league phase as a seeded qualifier in third place and will therefore be paired with either the Spanish or Turkish club during the draw on Friday.
Fixture dates and locations for last-16 ties
- Last-16 first legs: either 10 or 11 March.
- Reverse fixtures (second legs): 17-18 March.
- For Liverpool's tie specifically, the first leg is scheduled for March 10/11 with the return fixture at Anfield on March 17/18.
- The Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary will host the 2025-26 final on 30 May.
Format and the new seeding rules shaping the bracket
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.
This season is the first in which position in the league phase will also influence seeding for the quarter-finals 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.
Wider storylines to watch as the draw falls into place
Two broader narratives flagged ahead of the draw include the question: Could seven Premier League clubs qualify for the Champions League? and the developing concern that Italian clubs are on the brink of historic Champions League embarrassment. Both lines of story remain open as the draw clarifies potential matchups and paths through the bracket.
The Friday draw at 11: 00 GMT will therefore be more than a list of fixtures: it will lock in the bracket, apply a fresh layer of seeding consequences that reach into quarter-finals and semi-finals, and set specific home/away advantages that could shape clubs' routes to the final at the Puskas Arena on 30 May.
