The draw for the next round of the Champions League takes place on Friday.
The 2025-26 knockout phase draw will take place on Jan. 30 at 11 a.m. GMT at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland.
The 16 teams who finished from ninth to 24th in the league phase will be drawn on Friday Jan. 30 for knockout ties against each other.
The top eight teams from the league phase qualify automatically for the last 16. This means they gain a valuable rest by avoiding a playoff tie.
Four teams will be seeded for the draw, and four will be unseeded.
The teams who finished ninth, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th in the league phase will be seeded. The teams who finished 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd and 24th in the league phase are unseeded.
Seeded teams are divided into pairs, and unseeded teams are divided into separate pairs.
Real Madrid (9th in the league phase) or Inter Milan (10th) will be drawn against either Bodo/Glimt (23rd) or Benfica (24th).
Paris Saint-Germain (11th in the league phase) or Newcastle United (12th) will be drawn against either Monaco (21st) or Qarabag (22nd).
Juventus (13th in the league phase) or Atletico Madrid (14th) will be drawn against either Club Brugge (19th) or Galatasaray (20th).
Atalanta (15th in the league phase) or Bayer Leverkusen (16th) will be drawn against either Borussia Dortmund (17th) or Olympiacos (18th).
Ties are two legs.
The seeded team will play the second leg at home. Each team is expected to play once on a Tueday and once on a Wednesday.
First legs will be Feb. 17 and 18, 2026
Second legs will be Feb. 24 and 25, 2026
The eight clubs who win in the next round of the Champions League playoffs will qualify for the last 16, where they will be joined by the top eight clubs from the league phase (Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Tottenham, Barcelona, Barcelona, Chelsea, Sporting CP, Manchester City).