Holders Paris Saint-Germain are battling for a top eight place, as are Premier League clubs Liverpool, Tottenham, Newcastle, Chelsea, and Manchester City
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The League Phase of the 2025-26 Champions League draws to a close tonight as fans wait to learn how their team‘s route to the final.
The next 16 teams will enter the knockout phase’s play-off draw, with the top eight sides permitted a bye into the last 16.
That valuable rest, in a packed schedule, could prove decisive in the hunt for silverware.
Though Paris Saint-Germain proved it is not obstacle to winning Europe’s most coveted club trophy, dismantling Brest in the play-offs before a famous run to last year’s final and a thumping win over Inter Milan to clinch European glory.
Here’s everything we know about the Champions League knockout stage’s play-off draw:
When is the Champions League knockout phase play-off draw?
The 2025/26 UEFA Champions League knockout phase play-off draw starts at 11am GMT on Friday, 30 January 2026, in Nyon, Switzerland.
The draw includes teams that finished ninth to 24th place in the league phase, with the top eight sides in the league phase qualifying automatically for the last 16.
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(EPA)
Which teams are in the Champions League knockout phase play-off draw?
There will be 16 teams, to be decided on Wednesday, 28 January 2026 after the final round of fixtures. Arsenal are guaranteed to finish first or second, while Bayern Munich are also into the last 16.
All other teams, except Eintracht Frankfurt, Slavia Prague, Villarreal, Kairat Almaty, who have all been eliminated, can qualify for the top eight or advance to the play-off draw.
Liverpool (fourth), Tottenham (fifth), Newcastle (seventh) and Chelsea (eighth) are all currently holding an automatic route to the last 16, while Man City (11th) must rely on results elsewhere to jump into the top eight and avoid the play-offs.
Other teams hoping to move into the top eight after the final round include Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Inter Milan, Juventus and Borussia Dortmund.
How can I watch the Champions League draw?
The draw will be streamed live on Uefa’s website and the Champions League app, while Independent Sport will have a live blog with all the results from the draw and the latest reaction.
How will the Champions League knockout phase play-off draw work?
The clubs are paired together in relation to their league phase positions, forming four seeded pairs: positions 9 and 10, 11 and 12, 13 and 14, and 15 and 16. There will be four unseeded pairs: positions 17 and 18, 19 and 20, 21 and 22, and 23 and 24).
Clubs in each seeded pair will draw a tie against an unseeded pair: clubs 9 or 10 against clubs 23 or 24, clubs 11 or 12 against clubs 21 or 22, clubs 13 or 14 against clubs 19 or 20, and clubs 15 or 16 against clubs 17 or 18.
Teams from the same national association, or teams that have already met in the league phase, can all play against each other in the knockout phase play-offs.
When will the knockout phase play-off ties take place?
Matches will take place over two legs, with the seeded team set to play the return leg at home.
First legs will be played on 17-18 February and second legs are slated to take place on 24-25 February.
When is the round of 16 draw?
The eight teams that advance from the knockout phase play-offs will be in the draw for the round of 16, which will take place on Friday, 27 February.