Champions League draw LIVE
The league phase is over but there remains 16 teams still battling for a place in the Champions League knockout stage as the path to glory today begins to become clearer. Five of the Premier League’s six teams are already safely into the last-16 - Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester City - but Newcastle face a two-legged play-off in February.
A 1-1 draw away at holders Paris Saint-Germain was not enough to make it a clean sweep for English sides, so Newcastle join PSG in today’s draw looking for a kind match-up to secure their spot in the knockout stage proper. Also in the mix are perennial winners Real Madrid, who saw Benfica score past them on Wednesday, and could face the Portuguese side.
Inter Milan, Juventus and Atletico Madrid are also among the seeded teams, while Borussia Dortmund are the team to avoid among the unseeded, which also includes the likes of Galatasaray, Monaco and Bodo/Glimt. Follow the draw LIVE below with Standard Sport’s dedicated blog! The action begins from 11am GMT.
Champions League draw latest news
- Play-off draw in full
So, an instant rematch between Real Madrid and Benfica. Jose Mourinho will surely be relishing that.
Newcastle are probably quite happy with their draw against Qarabag, though a trip to Azerbaijan in the midweek between trips to Aston Villa and Manchester City is not ideal.
Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco in an all-French affair, while Juventus face a daunting trip to Galatasaray before the second leg at home.
The first legs will be played across February 17 or 18.
The second legs will held the following week across February 24 and 25.
Champions League knockout stage play-off draw in full
11:30 , Alex YoungBenfica vs Real Madrid
Bodo/Glimt vs Inter Milan
Monaco vs Paris Saint-Germain
Qarabag vs Newcastle
Club Brugge vs Atletico Madrid
Galatasaray vs Juventus
Borussia Dortmund vs Atalanta
Olympiacos vs Leverkusen
That’s it!
Bodo/Glimt vs Inter Milan
Benfica vs Real Madrid
Qarabag vs Newcastle
Monaco vs Paris Saint-Germain
Club Brugge vs Atletico Madrid
Galatasaray vs Juventus
Olympiacos vs Leverkusen
Borussia Dortmund vs Atalanta
Monaco, Benfica, Qarabag and Bodo/Glimt are on one side of the draw.
Galatasaray, Dortmund, Club Brugge and Olympiacos are on the other side.
So, Pires is now drawing all the unseeded teams. They will host the first legs of these play-off ties.
UEFA confirm that confirmed times and dates of the play-off fixtures will be confirmed tonight.
Pinto asked Pires what changes in a player’s mindset from the group stage/league phase into the knockout stage.
All great stuff, this.
Arsenal great Robert Pires is the former footballer picked today to help Pedro and Giorgio out with the draw.
Marchetti is now running through how the draw works and what comes next, but you guys already know all that as I’ve done Giorgio’s job for him.
Giorgio Marchetti is now on stage, which means it is go-time.
We are being shown highlights of Wednesday night’s action, capped off with Benfica goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin’s stunning last-gasp goal against Real Madrid to secure their spot in today’s draw.
Ok, we are up and running in Nyon at ‘the House of European football’.
Pedro Pinto is in place. Here we go.
Pairings
10:58 , Alex YoungTo make this even simplier, and as detailed earlier, the teams have been put in pairs based on their league phase finish.
- Real Madrid & Inter Milan vs Bodo/Glimt & Benfica
- PSG & Newcastle vs Monaco & Qarabag
- Juventus & Atletico Madrid vs Club Brugge & Galatasaray
- Atalanta & Leverkusen vs Dortmund & Olympiacos
Balls/teams/matches will be drawn very shortly!
Attention: Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham fans
10:50 , Alex YoungNo, you will not learn much from today’s draw.
Sit this one out and wait until the knockout stage draw on February 27.
The teams which finished in the top eight of the league phase will not discover their fate until these play-off games are concluded.
Not long to go
10:40 , Alex YoungThe ceremony starts in 20 minutes.
Draw pots for the knockout phase play-offs ⚽️#UCLdraw pic.twitter.com/KpArjBmp00
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) January 30, 2026
Champions League dates
10:30 , Alex YoungKnockout play-offs: February 17-18 and 24-25
Knockout stage draw: February 27
Last 16: March 10-11 and 17-18
Quarter-finals: April 7-8 and 14-15
Semi-finals: April 28-29 and May 5-6
Final: May 30
'Arsenal won't reach semi-finals'
10:20 , Alex YoungBig talk from former Manchester United and Newcastle striker Giuseppe Rossi.
“I can’t see Arsenal making the semi-finals,” he told OLBG.
“For me, my favourites to win the Champions League are Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Inter and Manchester City.
“If I had to pick one, I would choose Barcelona.”
Latest winner odds
10:12 , Alex YoungAhead of the draw, here's how the bookies think will win the whole thing.
- Arsenal: 7/2
- Bayern Munich: 4/1
- Man City: 13/2
- Barcelona: 13/2
- PSG: 15/2
- Liverpool: 9/1
- Real Madrid: 11/1
- Chelsea: 16/1
- Inter: 25/1
- Tottenham: 25/1
- Atletico Madrid: 33/1
- Newcastle: 33/1
- Juventus: 50/1
- Sporting: 50/1
(50/1 bar. Odds via Betfair, subject to change.)
Who can PSG face?
10:00 , Alex YoungPSG will be drawn with Monaco or Qarabag in today’s draw.
PSG will then face Chelsea or Barcelona in the last-16 stage, should they advance.
Who can Real Madrid face?
09:49 , Alex YoungReal Madrid will either face Benfica again, or Bodo/Glimt. Two tricky tests on paper.
Advance from that, and it is either Manchester City or Sporting in the knockout stage proper.
Who can Newcastle face?
09:37 , Alex YoungNewcastle will play either Qarabag or Monaco.
Then Barcelona or Chelsea lie in wait in the last-16 stage.
Unseeded teams
09:30 , Alex YoungBorussia Dortmund (17th)
Olympiacos (18th)
Club Brugge (19th)
Galatasaray (20th)
Monaco (21st)
Qarabag (22nd)
Bodo/Glimt (23rd)
Benfica (24th)
Seeded teams
09:22 , Alex YoungReal Madrid (9th)
Inter Milan (10th)
Paris Saint-Germain (11th)
Newcastle (12th)
Juventus (13th)
Atletico Madrid (14th)
Atalanta (15th)
Bayer Leverkusen (16th)
How does the draw work?
09:14 , Alex YoungSo, we know eight of the 16 teams who are advancing into the knockout stage.
They are, in order: Arsenal, Bayern, Liverpool, Tottenham, Barcelona, Chelsea, Sporting and Manchester City.
That leaves the teams that finished between ninth and 27th in the League Phase to face off in a two-legged play-off next month.
The teams between ninth and 16th will be seeded, and be drawn against the sides who finished the league phase in 17th to 24th.
There is also a pairing system in place.
For example, the ninth- and 10th-placed teams will take on either the team that finished 23rd or 24th. The 11th- and 12th-placed teams are up against the 21st or 22nd-placed side, and so on.
Clubs can face other teams from the same country, as well as sides that they played in the league phase. Real Madrid could again face Benfica, for example, who beat them on Wednesday in glorious fashion.
How to watch Champions League draw for FREE
09:05 , Alex YoungTV channel: TNT Sports 2 will broadcast live coverage of the draw in the UK, beginning at 11am GMT.
Live stream: The draw will be streamed live on the UEFA.com website, as well as on TNT Sports’ YouTube channel and via the Discovery+ app and website.
Champions League draw LIVE
08:59 , Alex YoungGood morning and welcome to the London Standard’s LIVE coverage of the Champions League knockout phase play-off draw.
A long name for a draw which is really rather simple. More on that shortly.
After eight rounds of league phase action, we are left with 16 teams vying for the final eight knockout stage spots.
Among them are Newcastle, the only English team not to head straight into the last-16 stage, holders Paris Saint-Germain and record winners Real Madrid.
A stacked draw, which begins at 11am GMT. Stick with us!
