Champions League knockout phase playoffs: Draw details, key dates and who could face who?

The League Section of the 2025-26 Champions League got here to an in depth in dramatic trend on Wednesday evening, with eight groups sealing computerized last-16 qualification, 16 sides getting into the playoffs and 12 golf equipment struggling an early elimination.

Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Barcelona, Chelsea, Sporting Lisbon and Manchester Metropolis have all punched their ticket to the final 16 and have averted a two-legged playoff, however 16 different sides nonetheless have their destiny to be determined.

Right here, Sports activities Mole takes a more in-depth have a look at all the pieces it’s good to know concerning the Champions League knockout section playoff draw and which groups may play towards one another.

When and the place is the Champions League knockout playoff draw happening?

The 2025-26 Champions League knockout section playoff draw can be staged at UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland and can happen at 11:00 GMT on Friday, January 30.

Which groups are within the Champions League knockout playoff draw?

The 16 groups concerned have been confirmed following the conclusion of the League Section. Groups who completed ninth to sixteenth can be seeded for the draw, whereas groups who completed seventeenth to twenty fourth can be unseeded.

Seeded groups:

ninth – Actual Madrid (ESP)

tenth – Inter Milan (ITA)

eleventh – Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)

twelfth – Newcastle United (ENG)

thirteenth – Juventus (ITA)

14th – Atletico Madrid (ESP)

fifteenth – Atalanta BC (ITA)

sixteenth – Bayer Leverkusen (GER)

Unseeded groups:

seventeenth – Borussia Dortmund (GER)

18th – Olympiacos (GRE)

nineteenth – Membership Brugge (BEL)

twentieth – Galatasaray (TUR)

twenty first – Monaco (FRA)

twenty second – The Arabic FK (AZE)

twenty third – Bodo/Glimt (NOR)

twenty fourth – Benfica (POR)

Who will face who within the Champions League knockout playoffs?

Groups are paired collectively primarily based on the place they completed within the League Section to type seeded and unseeded pairs.

Seeded groups are drawn towards unseeded groups. For instance, ninth and tenth will face twenty third and twenty fourth.

All seeded groups will play the second legs of those playoff ties at house.

Champions League knockout playoffs draw:

Unseeded | Monaco/Qarabag vs. PSG/Newcastle | Seeded

Unseeded | Membership Brugge/Galatasaray vs. Juventus/Atletico Madrid | Seeded

Unseeded | Bodo/Glimt/Benfica vs. Actual Madrid/Inter Milan | Seeded

Unseeded | Borussia Dortmund/Olympiacos vs. Atalanta/Bayer Leverkusen | Seeded

What follows the Champions League knockout playoffs?

The eight groups that win their playoff ties progress to the final 16 and can be drawn towards the League Section’s top-eight sides.

From right here on, the competitors follows a knockout format, with all ties performed over two legs aside from the ultimate.

Similar to within the playoffs, League Section place are used to find out seedings within the final 16, with seeded groups, who completed within the prime eight, given the benefit of enjoying their second legs at house.

The 2025-26 marketing campaign would be the first during which last League Section positions will even decide seedings for the quarter-finals and semi-finals, with groups ending first to fourth (Arsenal, Bayern, Liverpool and Spurs) seeded for the quarter-finals and given the second-leg house benefit for a attainable quarter-final match.

The highest-two groups within the League Section (Arsenal and Bayern) will even be seeded for the semi-finals and can obtain the second leg of these ties at house ought to they attain that stage.

If any seeded staff fails to achieve the quarter-finals or semi-finals, the staff that efficiently knocked them out will mechanically inherit their seeding place.