The Champions League round of 16, quarter-final and semi-final draw will take place on Friday, February 21 at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland to determine the path of the 16 teams through to the final in Munich on May 31, 2025.
The top eight teams from the league phase (Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Lille and Aston Villa) automatically qualified for the last 16 and they will be joined by the eight winners of the two-legged play-offs (Bayern Munich, Club Brugge, Feyenoord, Benfica, Real Madrid, PSG, Borussia Dortmund and PSV).
It is a draw in which the possible opponents in the round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals are also predefined by pairings that are determined by the final positions of the teams in the league phase, so Barcelona and Atletico already know the opponents they may face.
For example, the teams that finish first and second in the league phase (Liverpool and Barcelona) will face the winners of the knockout play-offs between the teams that finish 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th; the teams that finish third or fourth will face the winners of the knockout play-offs between the teams that finish 13th, 14th, 19th and 20th, and so on.
This is how the round of 16 draw will work
The clubs are paired according to their positions at the end of the league phase to form four pairs of seeds (clubs in positions 1 and 2 – Liverpool and Barca – 3 and 4 – Arsenal and Inter – 5 and 6 – Atletico and Leverkusen – 7 and 8 – Lille and Aston Villa).
The clubs from each pair of seeds will face each other in one of the two positions in the round of 16 against the corresponding winner of the knockout playoffs, whose position was determined in the previous draw. For example, Barcelona will face the winner of PSG-Brest if they go on one side of the draw or Benfica on the other. Atletico will face the winner of Real Madrid-City or Bayern. And Real Madrid, if they go through, will face Atletico or Leverkusen.
Four pots: Four pots are prepared for the draw and the balls containing the names of each pair of seeds are placed in the corresponding pots marked according to the league phase classification.
The draw assigns the side of the bracket to all seeded teams, starting with the 7/8 ranked teams, then 5/6, then 3/4 and finishing with the 1/2 teams.
A ball is drawn from the pot containing the two corresponding teams (i.e. the teams ranked 7th and 8th) and opened to show the team. The first team drawn from this pot is placed in the reserved spot on the left-hand side of the bracket. The other seeded team in the pair is then drawn and shown, and assigned the corresponding reserved spot on the right-hand side of the bracket.
The same procedure is followed with the other seeded teams, who play the second leg at home.
What will the quarter-final draw be like?
The draw is made to determine which team will be at home in the first leg and which in the second leg, as all possible opponents are known until the final.
Four pots are prepared for this draw, two for the left side of the bracket and two for the right side of the bracket. Each pot contains two balls representing the winners of the round of 16 matches from a tie on the corresponding side of the bracket. The first pot on the left-hand side of the bracket contains papers marked ‘Winners R16 1’ and ‘Winners R16 2’ and the second pot on the left-hand side as ‘Winners R16 3’ and ‘Winners R16 4’.
The first pot on the right will contain papers marked ‘R16 Winners 5’ and ‘R16 Winners 6’ and, finally, ‘R16 Winners 7’ and ‘R16 Winners 8’ in the second pot on the right.
The draw begins by mixing and drawing the balls placed in the first pot on the left-hand side of the bracket. The first ball drawn from this pot indicates the team that will play the first quarter-final at home, and the second ball will indicate the team that will play the second leg at home.
The procedure is repeated with the remaining pots to complete the quarter-final pairings.
How will the semi-final draw work?
Two pots are prepared for this draw, one for the left side of the bracket with balls containing papers marked as ‘Winners Q-F 1’ and ‘Winners Q-F 2’, and another for the right side of the bracket containing ‘Winners Q-F 3’ and ‘Winners Q-F 4’.
The draw begins by mixing and drawing the balls placed in the pot for the left side of the bracket. The first ball drawn indicates the team that will play the first match of the semi-final on the left side at home, and the second ball indicates the team that will play the second leg at home.
The procedure is repeated with the remaining pot to complete the semi-final pairings.
There will be no draw for the final
Since teams were designated to one side of the bracket by the play-off round of 16 draw, no draw is made for the final. The winner of the semi-final on the left-hand side of the bracket is designated as the home team in the final.
When is the draw for the round of 16?
The round of 16, quarter-final and semi-final draw takes place at 6 a.m. ET.
The draw will be streamed live on UEFA.com.
