On the night of January 29, the final eighth round of the group stage of the Champions League 2025/26 season was played. As a result, the list of 24 teams that will continue the fight for the trophy has been finalized.
Eight clubs that finished in the top positions of the overall standings received direct spots in the Round of 16. These are Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Tottenham, Barcelona, Chelsea, Sporting, and Manchester City.
Another 16 teams that finished in positions 9 to 24 will compete in the playoff round. These include: Real Madrid, Inter, PSG, Newcastle, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Atalanta, Bayer, Borussia Dortmund, Olympiacos, Brugge, Galatasaray, Monaco, Karabakh, Bodo/Glimt, and Benfica.
According to the regulations, clubs will be divided into seeded (9-16 places) and unseeded (17-24 places) pairs. In the playoff round, teams from seeded pairs will play against teams from unseeded pairs. The pairs for the draw are formed based on the final standings:
Real Madrid (9) / Inter (10) — Bodo/Glimt (23) / Benfica (24)
PSG (11) / Newcastle (12) — Monaco (21) / Karabakh (22)
Juventus (13) / Atletico (14) — Brugge (19) / Galatasaray (20)
Atalanta (15) / Bayer (16) — Borussia Dortmund (17) / Olympiacos (18)
The draw for the playoff round, which will determine the specific matchups, will take place on Friday, January 30, at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.
