2025–26 UEFA Champions League knockout phase
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The 2025-26 UEFA Champions League knockout phase ignites on February 17th with the play-offs, culminating on May 30th, 2026, with the grand final at Budapest's Puskás Aréna, where Europe's elite will battle for ultimate glory. A staggering 24 teams enter this electrifying stage, 16 fighting through the play-offs, and 8 powerhouses directly advancing to the Round of 16. All times are in CET/CEST.
The knockout phase is a gauntlet for the top 24 teams from the league phase. The elite eight, having conquered their league opponents, earn a coveted bye straight to the Round of 16. The remaining teams, those who finished between 9th and 24th, must first navigate the treacherous knockout phase play-offs.
The format is pure drama: two-legged ties, home and away, where every goal counts. Aggregate scores decide who advances. Tied on aggregate? Prepare for 30 minutes of extra time, and if the deadlock persists, it all comes down to the nerve-shredding penalty shootout. The final, a single, winner-takes-all spectacle, follows the same nail-biting protocol if tied after normal time.
And in the knockout phase, there are no boundaries. Teams from the same nation, or even those who've already faced off in the league, can clash at any stage. The draws themselves are strategic chess matches.
For the knockout phase play-offs, teams ranked 9th to 16th are seeded, holding the advantage of the second leg at home, while those from 17th to 24th enter as unseeded hopefuls. The draw, based on a predetermined bracket, pits seeded against unseeded, ensuring intense matchups.
The Round of 16 draw elevates the stakes. The league's top eight are seeded, awaiting the victors of the play-offs. Again, a bracket dictates potential opponents, with seeded teams hosting the crucial second leg.
From the quarter-finals onwards, the path is largely predetermined by the bracket. Higher seeds, should they advance, enjoy the home advantage in the second leg. And in a fascinating twist, if a seeded team is upset, their conquerors inherit their seeding position. The winner of semi-final one is designated the "home" team for the final, a symbolic nod for the neutral venue.
UEFA also prioritizes fan experience, ensuring teams from the same or nearby cities don't clash home fixtures on the same or consecutive days. Scheduling adjustments, from earlier kick-offs to alternative venues, ensure a smooth flow. For quarter-finals and semi-finals, the order of legs can be reversed to accommodate these logistical needs.
The bracket itself is a work of art, partially fixed with seeding, ensuring a symmetrical progression. Teams' league phase standings dictate their place, aiming to pit higher-ranked teams against lower-ranked ones early on. This structure means the top two league finishers can't possibly meet until the final itself.
The knockout phase play-offs, with draws on January 30th, 2026, will see pairings like 9/10 vs 23/24, 11/12 vs 21/22, 13/14 vs 19/20, and 15/16 vs 17/18. The first legs kick off on February 17th and 18th, with the return fixtures on February 24th and 25th.
The Round of 16 draw, on February 27th, 2026, will see the top eight seeded teams face the winners of the play-offs. The bracket positions are already set, so it's about filling in the blanks. The first legs are scheduled for March 10th and 11th, followed by the second legs on March 17th and 18th.
The quarter-finals will be contested on April 7th and 8th for the first legs, and April 14th and 15th for the second. Then, the semi-finals will unfold on April 28th and 29th for the first legs, and May 5th and 6th for the decisive second legs.
Finally, the ultimate prize awaits. The 2025-26 UEFA Champions League final, played on May 30th, 2026, at the magnificent Puskás Aréna in Budapest. The winner of semi-final one earns the "home" designation, ready to etch their name in football history.
The 2025–26 UEFA Champions League knockout phase will begin on 17 February with the knockout phase play-offs and end on 30 May 2026 with the final at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest, Hungary, to decide the champions of the 2025–26 UEFA Champions League. A total of 24 teams will compete in the knockout phase, with 16 entering in the play-offs and 8 receiving a bye to the round of 16.
Times are CET/CEST, as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).
== Qualified teams ==
The knockout phase involves the top 24 teams that qualified from the league phase. The top 8 teams received a bye to the round of 16, while teams finishing in positions 9 to 24 entered the knockout phase play-offs.
== Format ==
Each tie in the knockout phase, apart from the final, is played over two legs, with each team playing one leg at home. The team that scores more goals on aggregate over the two legs advances to the next round. If the aggregate score is level, then 30 minutes of extra time is played (the away goals rule is not applied). If the score is still level at the end of extra time, the winners are decided by a penalty shoot-out. In the final, which is played as a single match, if the score is level at the end of normal time, extra time is played, followed by a penalty shoot-out if the score is still level.
=== Draw procedure ===
In the knockout phase, there is no country protection, with teams from the same association able to face each other in any round. Teams can also face opponents they played during the league phase.
The mechanism of the draws for each round is as follows:
In the draw for the knockout phase play-offs, the eight teams finishing the league phase in positions 9–16 will be seeded, and the eight teams finishing the league phase in positions 17–24 will be unseeded. The draw will be split into four sections based on the predetermined bracket, with the seeded teams in each section drawn against one of their two possible unseeded opponents. The seeded teams will host the second leg.
In the draw for the round of 16, the eight teams finishing the league phase in positions 1–8 will be seeded, and the eight winners of the knockout phase play-offs will be unseeded. Again, the draw will be split into four sections based on the predetermined bracket, with the seeded teams in each section drawn against one of their two possible unseeded opponents. The seeded teams will host the second leg.
In the quarter-finals and semi-finals, the exact match pairings and order of legs were predetermined based on the tournament bracket. The higher-seeded teams, assuming they advance, will play the second leg of each round at home. Should a seeded team be beaten, the team that eliminates them will assume their seeding position. The winner of semi-final 1 will be designated as the "home" team for the final (for administrative purposes as it is played at a neutral venue).
In the knockout phase, teams from the same or nearby cities are not scheduled to play at home on the same day or on consecutive days, due to logistics and crowd control. To avoid such scheduling conflict, several adjustments have been made: for the knockout phase play-offs and the round of 16, if the two teams are drawn to play at home for the same leg, the home match of the team that had the lower league phase ranking will be moved from either Tuesday or Wednesday from a regularly scheduled time to an earlier time slot, to a different day, and/or at an alternative venue without clashing any other competition. For the quarter-finals and semi-finals, the order of legs of the tie involving the team with the lowest priority will be reversed from the original draw.
=== Predetermined pairings ===
The bracket structure for the knockout phase was partially fixed in advance using seeding, with a symmetrical pattern on both sides. Teams' positions in the bracket were determined by their final standings in the league phase, ensuring that higher-ranked teams face lower-ranked opponents in earlier rounds. As a result, certain sets of teams, such as the top two from the league phase, cannot meet until the final.
The structure of each side of the bracket can be summarised as follows, with the exact pairings of the play-offs and round of 16 determined by a draw:
Knockout phase play-offs
Pairing I: 9/10 vs 23/24
Pairing II: 11/12 vs 21/22
Pairing III: 13/14 vs 19/20
Pairing IV: 15/16 vs 17/18
Round of 16
Pairing A: 1/2 vs Winner IV
Pairing B: 3/4 vs Winner III
Pairing C: 5/6 vs Winner II
Pairing D: 7/8 vs Winner I
Quarter-finals
Pairing 1: Winner A vs Winner D
Pairing 2: Winner B vs Winner C
Semi-finals: Winner 1 vs Winner 2
== Schedule ==
The schedule is as follows (all draws are held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland).
== Bracket ==
== Knockout phase play-offs ==
The draw for the knockout phase play-offs was held on 30 January 2026, 12:00 CET.
=== Seeding ===
The draw was split into four seeded and four unseeded pots, based on the predetermined pairings for the knockout phase. Teams were allocated based on their final position in the league phase. Teams in positions 9 to 16 were seeded (playing the second legs at home), while teams in positions 17 to 24 were unseeded. The draw began with the unseeded teams, allocating them all to a tie. Once completed, all the seeded teams were drawn into a tie as their opponents.
=== Summary ===
The first legs will be played on 17 and 18 February, and the second legs will be played on 24 and 25 February 2026.
=== Matches ===
== Round of 16 ==
The draw for the round of 16 will be held on 27 February 2026.
=== Seeding ===
As the bracket was fixed, the draw contained only four seeded pots, based on the predetermined pairings for the knockout phase, with the top-eight teams allocated based on their final position in the league phase. Teams in positions 1 to 8 will be seeded (playing the second legs at home), while the bracket positions of the winners of the knockout phase play-offs (unseeded) were predetermined. The top-eight teams will be drawn into the bracket against one of their two possible opponents.
=== Summary ===
The first legs will be played on 10 and 11 March, and the second legs will be played on 17 and 18 March 2026.
=== Matches ===
== Quarter-finals ==
=== Summary ===
The first legs will be played on 7 and 8 April, and the second legs will be played on 14 and 15 April 2026.
=== Matches ===
== Semi-finals ==
=== Summary ===
The first legs will be played on 28 and 29 April, and the second legs will be played on 5 and 6 May 2026.
=== Matches ===
== Final ==
The final will be played on 30 May 2026 at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest. The winner of semi-final 1 was designated as the "home" team for administrative purposes.
== Notes ==
== References ==
== External links ==
Official website
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