New Delhi: The play-off phase of the UEFA Champions League has ended leaving 16 teams competing for the next stage of the competition. Friday’s draw will decide who the teams that finished in the top eight will face from the playoff stage in the final 16 stage and which half the draw they will be in.
Teams are seeded in couples for example Liverpool and Barcelona and will be on the opposite of the draws and can only meet in the finals. Teams from the same country can meet at any phase of the competition. There are no away goal rules which UEFA discontinued since the start of the 2021-22 season as it was deemed “no longer appropriate” to have more weightage. The new format of the competition has an extra play-off round before the final-16 stage increasing the numbers to 189 from 125 games.
Today we map the road to Munich 🗺️#UCLdraw pic.twitter.com/H8ukLXDlW5
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) February 21, 2025
Having beaten Brest 10-0 in aggregate, Paris-Saint Germain could face either Barcelona or Liverpool, with Benfica facing the other. Arsenal and Inter Milan are paired together and one side will face Feyenoord who have knocked out AC Milan or PSV who won the aggregate against Juventus.
Aston Villa and Lille are seeded together and they are set to either face Club Brugge who dismissed Atlanata from the competition or Borussia Dortmund, who managed to beat Sporting 3-0 on aggregate.
Are England close to earning an extra spot in the Champions League?
Two leagues will be rewarded an extra spot in the Champions League for the next season based on their performance in Europe this season. Currently Premier League are in a good place with six of their seven teams in the final 16 across the three UEFA competitions.
Manchester City are the only English team who have crashed out of the tournament before the final 16, with the side looking shaky throughout the season before losing to Real Madrid in the two-legged playoffs. For now, Spain sits in the third place of the table. Italy who are second, have only Inter Miami in the picture with AC Milan, Atlanta and Juventus all crashing out in the playoff round for the knockout stage, giving Italy very little chance at acquiring points.
Germany and France are the farthest from acquiring the extra place in the next edition of the competition. Both Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund are in the same half of the Champions League draw making their qualification difficult. France have just PSG and Lille left in the competition with both Monaco and Brest out of the competition.
Portugal have three of its five teams in contention for earning points with Sporting getting beaten by Dortmund and Roma knocked out in Europa League playoffs.
When and where to watch the Champions League last-16 draw?
The Champions League last-16 draw, Europa draw and Conference League will take place on Friday, February 21st. The Champions League draw will take place at 4:30 PM IST and fans can watch it on Sony Sports 2 and Sony Sports 2HD and live stream it on the SonyLIV app and website in India.
UEFA Champions League is set to decide the knockout stage of the new competition. Here’s a look at how the draw works for the final 16 stage of the competition. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
