2025–26 UEFA Champions League knockout phase

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The 2025–26 UEFA Champions League knockout phase will begin on 30 January with the knockout phase play-offs and end on 30 May 2026 with the final at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest, to decide the champions of the 2025–26 UEFA Champions League. A total of 24 teams will compete in the knockout phase, with 16 entering in the play-offs and 8 receiving a bye to the round of 16.

Times are CET/CEST, as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).

Qualified teams

The knockout phase involves the top 24 teams that qualified from the league phase. The top 8 teams received a bye to the round of 16, while teams finishing in positions 9 to 24 entered the knockout phase play-offs.

Entering the round of 16 (seeded)

Pos	Team
1	Arsenal
2	Bayern Munich
3	Liverpool
4	Tottenham Hotspur
5	Barcelona
6	Chelsea
7	Sporting CP
8	Manchester City

Entering the play-offs (seeded)

Pos	Team
9	Real Madrid
10	Inter Milan
11	Paris Saint-Germain
12	Newcastle United
13	Juventus
14	Atlético Madrid
15	Atalanta
16	Bayer Leverkusen

Entering the play-offs (unseeded)

Pos	Team
17	Borussia Dortmund
18	Olympiacos
19	Club Brugge
20	Galatasaray
21	Monaco
22	Qarabağ
23	Bodø/Glimt
24	Benfica

Format

Each tie in the knockout phase, apart from the final, will be played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that scored more goals on aggregate over the two legs advanced to the next round. If the aggregate score was level, then 30 minutes of extra time were played (the away goals rule was not applied). If the score was still level at the end of extra time, the winners were decided by a penalty shoot-out. In the final, which was played as a single match, if the score was level at the end of normal time, extra time would be played, followed by a penalty shoot-out if the score was still level.

Draw procedure

In the knockout phase, there will be no country protection, with teams from the same association able to face each other in any round. Teams can also face opponents they played during the league phase. The mechanism of the draws for each round is as follows:

• In the draw for the knockout phase play-offs, the eight teams finishing the league phase in positions 9–16 were seeded, and the eight teams finishing the league phase in positions 17–24 are unseeded. The draw is split into four sections based on the predetermined bracket, with the seeded teams in each section drawn against one of their two possible unseeded opponents. The seeded teams host the second leg.
• In the draw for the round of 16, the eight teams finishing the league phase in positions 1–8 are seeded, and the eight winners of the knockout phase play-offs are unseeded. Again, the draw is split into four sections based on the predetermined bracket, with the seeded teams in each section drawn against one of their two possible unseeded opponents. The seeded teams host the second leg.
• Teams finishing first to fourth at the end of the league phase will play the second leg of the quarter-final stages at home. Furthermore, for the semi-final, teams ranked one and two will also play the second leg at home if they progress to that stage. If a seeded team is beaten in either round, the team that eliminates them takes over their seeding position.

Predetermined pairings

The bracket structure for the knockout phase was partially fixed in advance using seeding, with a symmetrical pattern on both sides. Teams' positions in the bracket were determined by their final standings in the league phase, ensuring that higher-ranked teams face lower-ranked opponents in earlier rounds. As a result, certain sets of teams, such as the top two from the league phase, cannot meet until the final.

The structure of each side of the bracket can be summarised as follows, with the exact pairings of the play-offs and round of 16 determined by a draw:

• Knockout phase play-offs
  • Pairing I: 9/10 vs 23/24
  • Pairing II: 11/12 vs 21/22
  • Pairing III: 13/14 vs 19/20
  • Pairing IV: 15/16 vs 17/18
• Round of 16
  • Pairing A: 1/2 vs Winner IV
  • Pairing B: 3/4 vs Winner III
  • Pairing C: 5/6 vs Winner II
  • Pairing D: 7/8 vs Winner I
• Quarter-finals
  • Pairing 1: Winner A vs Winner D
  • Pairing 2: Winner B vs Winner C
• Semi-finals: Winner 1 vs Winner 2

Schedule

The schedule is as follows (all draws are held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland).

Round	Draw date	First leg	Second leg
Knockout phase play-offs	30 January 2026	17–18 February 2026	24–25 February 2026
Round of 16	27 February 2026	10–11 March 2026	17–18 March 2026
Quarter-finals		7–8 April 2026	14–15 April 2026
Semi-finals		28–29 April 2026	5–6 May 2026
Final		30 May 2026 at Puskás Aréna, Budapest

Bracket

Knockout phase play-offs

Round of 16

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

Winner PO1

21

Monaco

5/6

Barcelona or Chelsea

Winner R16–1

11

Paris Saint-Germain

Winner R16–2

Winner PO2

20

Galatasaray

3/4

Liverpool or Tottenham Hotspur

Winner QF1

13

Juventus

Winner QF2

Winner PO3

24

Benfica

7/8

Sporting CP or Manchester City

Winner R16–3

9

Real Madrid

Winner R16–4

Winner PO4

30 May – Budapest

17

Borussia Dortmund

1/2

Arsenal or Bayern Munich

Winner SF1

15

Atalanta

Winner SF2

Winner PO5

22

Qarabağ

6/5

Chelsea or Barcelona

Winner R16–5

12

Newcastle United

Winner R16–6

Winner PO6

19

Club Brugge

4/3

Tottenham Hotspur or Liverpool

Winner QF3

14

Atlético Madrid

Winner QF4

Winner PO7

23

Bodø/Glimt

8/7

Manchester City or Sporting CP

Winner R16–7

10

Inter Milan

Winner R16–8

Winner PO8

18

Olympiacos

2/1

Bayern Munich or Arsenal

16

Bayer Leverkusen

Knockout phase play-offs

The draw for the knockout phase play-offs will be held on 30 January 2026, at 12:00 CET.

Seeding

The draw was split into four seeded and four unseeded pots, based on the predetermined pairings for the knockout phase. Teams were allocated based on their final position in the league phase. Teams in positions 9 to 16 will be seeded (playing the second legs at home), while teams in positions 17 to 24 will be unseeded. The draw will begin with the unseeded teams, allocating them all to a tie. Once completed, all the seeded teams will be drawn into a tie as their opponents.

9/10 vs 23/24		11/12 vs 21/22
Seeded	Unseeded	Seeded	Unseeded
Real Madrid Inter Milan	Bodø/Glimt Benfica	Paris Saint-Germain Newcastle United	Monaco Qarabağ

13/14 vs 19/20		15/16 vs 17/18
Seeded	Unseeded	Seeded	Unseeded
Juventus Atlético Madrid	Club Brugge Galatasaray	Atalanta Bayer Leverkusen	Borussia Dortmund Olympiacos

Summary

The first legs will be played on 17 and 18 February, and the second legs will be played on 24 and 25 February 2026.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Monaco	1	Paris Saint-Germain	17 Feb	25 Feb
Galatasaray	2	Juventus	17 Feb	25 Feb
Benfica	3	Real Madrid	17 Feb	25 Feb
Borussia Dortmund	4	Atalanta	17 Feb	25 Feb
Qarabağ	5	Newcastle United	18 Feb	24 Feb
Club Brugge	6	Atlético Madrid	18 Feb	24 Feb
Bodø/Glimt	7	Inter Milan	18 Feb	24 Feb
Olympiacos	8	Bayer Leverkusen	18 Feb	24 Feb

Matches

17–18 February 2026 (2026-02)	Monaco	v	Paris Saint-Germain	Stade Louis II, Monaco
		[ Report]

24–25 February 2026 (2026-02)	Paris Saint-Germain	v	Monaco	Parc des Princes, Paris
		[ Report]

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17–18 February 2026 (2026-02)	Galatasaray	v	Juventus	Rams Park, Istanbul
		[ Report]

24–25 February 2026 (2026-02)	Juventus	v	Galatasaray	Juventus Stadium, Turin
		[ Report]

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17–18 February 2026 (2026-02)	Benfica	v	Real Madrid	Estádio da Luz, Lisbon
		[ Report]

24–25 February 2026 (2026-02)	Real Madrid	v	Benfica	Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid
		[ Report]

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17–18 February 2026 (2026-02)	Borussia Dortmund	v	Atalanta	Westfalenstadion, Dortmund
		[ Report]

24–25 February 2026 (2026-02)	Atalanta	v	Borussia Dortmund	Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia, Bergamo
		[ Report]

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17–18 February 2026 (2026-02)	Qarabağ	v	Newcastle United	Tofiq Bahramov Republican Stadium, Baku
		[ Report]

24–25 February 2026 (2026-02)	Newcastle United	v	Qarabağ	St James' Park, Newcastle upon Tyne
		[ Report]

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17–18 February 2026 (2026-02)	Club Brugge	v	Atlético Madrid	Jan Breydel Stadium, Bruges
		[ Report]

24–25 February 2026 (2026-02)	Atlético Madrid	v	Club Brugge	Metropolitano Stadium, Madrid
		[ Report]

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17–18 February 2026 (2026-02)	Bodø/Glimt	v	Inter Milan	Aspmyra Stadion, Bodø
		[ Report]

24–25 February 2026 (2026-02)	Inter Milan	v	Bodø/Glimt	San Siro, Milan
		[ Report]

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17–18 February 2026 (2026-02)	Olympiacos	v	Bayer Leverkusen	Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus
		[ Report]

24–25 February 2026 (2026-02)	Bayer Leverkusen	v	Olympiacos	BayArena, Leverkusen
		[ Report]

Round of 16

The draw for the round of 16 will be held on 27 February 2026, 12:00 CET.

Seeding

As the bracket was fixed, the draw contained only four seeded pots, based on the predetermined pairings for the knockout phase, with the top-eight teams allocated based on their final position in the league phase. Teams in positions 1 to 8 were seeded (playing the second legs at home), while the bracket positions of the winners of the knockout phase play-offs (unseeded) were predetermined. The top-eight teams were drawn into the bracket against one of their two possible opponents.

1/2 vs 15/16/17/18		3/4 vs 13/14/19/20
Seeded	Predetermined	Seeded	Predetermined
Arsenal Bayern Munich	Winner PO4 Winner PO8	Liverpool Tottenham Hotspur	Winner PO2 Winner PO6

5/6 vs 11/12/21/22		7/8 vs 9/10/23/24
Seeded	Predetermined	Seeded	Predetermined
Barcelona Chelsea	Winner PO1 Winner PO5	Sporting CP Manchester City	Winner PO3 Winner PO7

Summary

The first legs will be played on 10 and 11 March, and the second legs were played on 17 and 18 March 2026.

Team 1	Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Winner PO1	1	Barcelona or Chelsea	10–11 Mar	17–18 Mar
Winner PO2	2	Liverpool or Tottenham Hotspur	10–11 Mar	17–18 Mar
Winner PO3	3	Sporting CP or Manchester City	10–11 Mar	17–18 Mar
Winner PO4	4	Arsenal or Bayern Munich	10–11 Mar	17–18 Mar
Winner PO5	5	Chelsea or Barcelona	10–11 Mar	17–18 Mar
Winner PO6	6	Tottenham Hotspur or Liverpool	10–11 Mar	17–18 Mar
Winner PO7	7	Manchester City or Sporting CP	10–11 Mar	17–18 Mar
Winner PO8	8	Bayern Munich or Arsenal	10–11 Mar	17–18 Mar

Final

Main article: 2026 UEFA Champions League Final

The final will be played on 30 May 2026 at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest. A draw will be held on 27 February 2026 (after the round of 16, quarter-final and semi-final draws) to determine the "home" team for administrative purposes.

30 May 2026 (2026-05-30) 21:00 CEST	TBD	v	TBD	Puskás Aréna, Budapest

External links

• Official website