The Champions League round of 16, quarter-final, and semi-final draw is set to take place on Friday, February 21 at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland. This draw will determine the path of the 16 teams as they make their way to the final in Munich on May 31, 2025.
The top eight teams from the league phase, including Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Lille, and Aston Villa, have automatically qualified for the last 16. They will be joined by the eight winners of the two-legged play-offs, which include Bayern Munich, Club Brugge, Feyenoord, Benfica, Real Madrid, PSG, Borussia Dortmund, and PSV.
The draw for the round of 16, quarter-finals, and semi-finals follows a predefined pairing system based on the final positions of the teams in the league phase. This means that Barcelona and Atletico already know the potential 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.
The draw for the round of 16 works by pairing clubs according to their positions at the end of the league phase. This forms 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), and 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. The winners of these matches were 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.
The quarter-final draw determines which team will be at home in the first leg and which in the second leg. Four pots are prepared for this draw, two for each 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 semi-final draw follows a similar process with two pots prepared for each side of the bracket. The balls drawn from these pots determine which teams will play the first match and second leg at home.
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. The winner of the semi-final on the left-hand side of the bracket is designated as the home team in the final.
The draw for the round of 16, quarter-finals, and semi-finals will take place at 6 a.m. ET and can be streamed live on UEFA.com.
