Champions League knockout draw: date, time, format and what happens next
A new stage begins after the league phase
The 2025-26 UEFA Champions League has reached its next major checkpoint. After a dramatic final matchweek, the league phase is complete and the field has been narrowed to 24 teams still alive in Europe’s premier club competition.
That outcome sets up the next event on the calendar: the draw for the knockout playoff round. This draw determines the fixtures for the extra two-legged round that sits between the league phase and the traditional round of 16.
For fans tracking potential matchups, travel, and the route to the final, the draw is the moment when the bracket begins to take shape. It also clarifies which clubs will have the advantage of playing the second leg at home, a detail that can matter greatly in two-legged ties.
When is the Champions League knockout playoff round draw?
The draw for the knockout playoff round will take place on Friday, Jan. 30, at 6 a.m. ET (11 a.m. GMT).
The location is the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland.
Which teams are involved, and what is at stake?
Sixteen teams take part in this draw. These are the clubs that finished ninth through 24th in the league phase.
The league phase standings determine who is seeded and who is unseeded:
- Seeded teams: those finishing 9th through 16th
- Unseeded teams: those finishing 17th through 24th
Meanwhile, the league phase also decided two other important groups:
- The top eight teams advanced directly to the round of 16.
- Teams finishing 25th to 36th were eliminated.
In other words, Friday’s draw is not the start of the round of 16. It is the step that determines who will earn the right to join the top eight in that next phase.
How the draw works: seeded vs. unseeded and the paired-team system
The Champions League introduced a seeding system for 2024-25 that continues to shape the bracket in 2025-26. The intent is straightforward: higher-placed teams from the league phase should not face each other immediately in the knockout playoff round. In theory, that produces a more balanced bracket and rewards league-phase performance.
Here is the key structural detail: all 16 teams in Friday’s draw are paired based on their final league-phase position. The article’s example illustrates the concept: ninth-place Real Madrid are paired with 10th-place Internazionale, and 11th-place Paris Saint-Germain are paired with 12th-place Newcastle United, and so on. This approach creates eight sets of paired teams.
Those pairings matter because, during the draw, each pairing is split and the two clubs are placed on opposite sides of the bracket. The split is designed to structure the bracket before individual fixtures are finalized.
Step-by-step: what happens during the draw?
The draw follows an order that first places the unseeded clubs and then the seeded clubs, using the paired-team framework described above.
- Step 1: Unseeded teams are drawn first. Each unseeded team is drawn into a specific position in the bracket.
- Step 2: The “first half / second half” bracket rule applies. For each pairing, the first team drawn goes into the first half of the bracket, and the other club in that pair goes into the second half.
- Step 3: The draw then moves to the seeded teams. The same first-half/second-half rule is applied again.
- Step 4: Fixtures are created automatically. This process produces two knockout playoff round fixtures between seeded and unseeded clubs for each bracket position.
One additional competitive detail is built into the format: the seeded clubs will play the second leg at home. That home advantage is the primary reward for finishing higher within the group of teams that did not make the top eight.
What the bracket means before a ball is kicked
Even before the first leg is played, the bracket has practical implications. By splitting paired teams onto opposite sides, the competition effectively sketches out possible routes through the knockout rounds once the round of 16 draw finalizes the rest of the path.
The bracket shown “entering the draw” is, by definition, provisional until the draw is completed. Still, the structure is meaningful because it reduces uncertainty: clubs and supporters can see which half of the bracket they will occupy and begin to anticipate how the tournament might unfold if they advance.
Why the seeding system can change everything
The seeding rules are not just administrative. They can influence the difficulty of a team’s path, and recent history provides an example of how quickly fortunes can shift under this model.
Last season, Manchester City did not qualify for the knockouts until the final day of the league phase. Their 22nd-place finish placed them in the knockout playoff round as an unseeded team. As a result, they were drawn against a seeded Real Madrid, and Real Madrid won the tie 6-3 on aggregate over two legs.
The same season also showed that the extra round does not automatically derail a contender. Paris Saint-Germain, according to the account provided, appeared unaffected by the additional matches, moving past Brest in the playoffs and ultimately winning the title.
Those two outcomes underline the central tension of the format: the system aims to reward league-phase placement, but it can also produce heavyweight matchups earlier than some fans might expect—particularly when a major club finishes outside the top eight.
Notable context heading into this year’s draw
Several prominent clubs are positioned outside the top eight this season, meaning they must navigate the knockout playoff round rather than moving straight to the round of 16.
Paris Saint-Germain are once again outside the top eight. Inter Milan are also outside the top eight, as are Real Madrid after a surprising result on the final matchweek: Los Blancos lost 4-2 to Benfica.
Those details matter because they help explain why the draw attracts so much attention even before the round of 16 begins. When teams of that stature are placed into the playoff round, the potential for high-profile ties increases, and the margin for error shrinks.
Can teams from the same country face each other?
No. From the knockout playoff round onward, clubs from the same country cannot play each other.
This restriction shapes the draw by removing certain matchups from consideration, which can have a ripple effect across the bracket. It may also influence how quickly teams from the same domestic league can meet, pushing those encounters deeper into the tournament—if they happen at all.
Can teams be drawn against opponents they already played?
Yes. Clubs can be matched against opponents they already faced in the league phase.
That possibility adds another layer of intrigue. A rematch can bring immediate narrative tension—tactical adjustments, psychological edges, and the familiarity that comes from having recently shared the pitch—while also raising the stakes for teams that may feel they have unfinished business from earlier in the competition.
What happens after the draw?
Once the draw is completed, the teams will contest the knockout playoff round as a two-legged tie in February. The winners advance to the round of 16, where the tournament’s bracket becomes fully defined for the remaining knockout stages.
After the playoff round concludes, the next draw is scheduled for Feb. 27. That draw will determine the round-of-16 matchups and finalize the bracket for the rest of the knockout rounds.
Key dates: knockout rounds schedule
The calendar for the remainder of the competition is set out clearly, from the playoff round through the final:
- Knockout playoff round: Feb. 17-18, Feb. 24-25
- Round of 16 / quarterfinal / semifinal draw: Feb. 27
- Round of 16: March 10-11, March 17-18
- Quarterfinals: April 7-8, April 14-15
- Semifinals: April 28-29, May 5-6
- Final: May 30 (Budapest)
What to watch for on draw day
Because the draw is built around seeded and unseeded teams, paired placements, and bracket halves, the most important outcomes are not just who plays whom, but also how the bracket’s two sides are populated. The first-half/second-half placements can influence the path a club might face if it advances, especially once the round of 16 draw later locks in the remainder of the knockout bracket.
Also worth noting is the built-in advantage for seeded teams: playing the second leg at home. That detail can be decisive in tight ties, particularly when the aggregate score remains close heading into the return match.
Finally, the restrictions and allowances create a distinctive mix of possibilities. Same-country matchups are off the table from this stage forward, but league-phase rematches are allowed—meaning familiarity could either help a team correct earlier mistakes or confirm an existing edge.
The immediate bottom line
The league phase has determined who is still standing, who has earned a direct place in the round of 16, and who must take the longer route. The knockout playoff round draw on Jan. 30 in Nyon is the next step in translating those standings into a bracket and a set of two-legged ties.
With 16 teams involved—seeded and unseeded based on league-phase placement—and with the bracket structure shaped by paired positions, the draw is designed to reward better performance while still leaving room for challenging matchups. Once the playoff round is played in February, the round of 16 draw on Feb. 27 will complete the tournament’s roadmap to Budapest.
