UEFA Champions League knockout play-off draw 2026
Here’s a clear and up-to-date summary of the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 knockout phase play-off draw, including where and when it took place and which teams were involved, based on the latest verified information:
The UEFA Champions League knockout phase play-off draw for the 2025/26 season was held on Friday, 30 January 2026 at 11:00 AM Central European Time (CET) in Nyon, Switzerland, at the House of European Football, the official headquarters of UEFA. The event determined the pairs of teams that will compete in the two-legged play-off round to decide the final eight places in the Champions League Round of 16.
Under the Champions League’s updated competition format, the 36 teams first played a league phase, and the top eight teams from that league phase secured direct qualification to the Round of 16. Teams finishing ninth through 24th entered the knockout phase play-offs. These 16 teams were seeded or unseeded based on their league phase positions, with seeded teams hosting the second leg of their ties.
The draw produced the following play-off matchups:
- Galatasaray vs Juventus
- Monaco vs Paris Saint-Germain
- Borussia Dortmund vs Atalanta
- Benfica vs Real Madrid
- Qarabağ vs Newcastle United
- Club Brugge vs Atlético Madrid
- Bodø/Glimt vs Inter Milan
- Olympiacos vs Bayer Leverkusen
These ties will be played over two legs on 17 and 18 February 2026 for the first matches, and 24 and 25 February 2026 for the return legs. The eight winners will advance to the Round of 16, where they will join the eight automatically qualified teams such as Arsenal, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Sporting CP, and Tottenham.
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