Champions League knockout phase play-off draw: Manchester City get Real Madrid, Bayern visit Celtic
Friday, January 31, 2025
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The 16 sides involved have learned their opponents in the inaugural knockout phase play-offs.
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The eight knockout phase play-off ties in the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League are now set following the inaugural draw on Friday.
What are the Champions League knockout phase play-off ties?
Matches kick off at 21:00 CET unless stated
First legs
11/02: Brest vs Paris Saint-Germain (18:45 CET)
11/02: Juventus vs PSV Eindhoven
11/02: Manchester City vs Real Madrid
11/02: Sporting CP vs Borussia Dortmund
12/02: Club Brugge vs Atalanta (18:45 CET)
12/02: Monaco vs Benfica
12/02: Celtic vs Bayern München
12/02: Feyenoord vs Milan
Second legs
18/02: Milan vs Feyenoord (18:45 CET)
18/02: Atalanta vs Club Brugge
18/02: Bayern München vs Celtic
18/02: Benfica vs Monaco
19/02: Borussia Dortmund vs Sporting CP (18:45 CET)
19/02: Paris Saint-Germain vs Brest
19/02: PSV Eindhoven vs Juventus
19/02: Real Madrid vs Manchester City
When are the Champions League knockout phase matches?
Round of 16, quarter-final, semi-final draw: 21 February 2025
Round of 16: 4/5 & 11/12 March 2025
Quarter-finals: 8/9 & 15/16 April 2025
Semi-finals: 29/30 April & 6/7 May 2025
Final: 31 May 2025
Who is already through to the last 16?
Arsenal, Aston Villa, Atleti, Barcelona, Inter, Leverkusen, Lille, Liverpool
How did the draw work?
Eight bowls were prepared for the draw, with the balls containing the names of the seeded and unseeded teams placed in pairs in the corresponding marked bowls according to the league phase rankings.
The draw started by allocating each team from a pair of unseeded teams to one of the relevant pre-determined positions in the bracket, starting with the sides ranked 23/24 and finishing with those in 17/18. One ball was taken from the bowl containing the two relevant ranked teams. The first team drawn was placed in their reserved spot on the silver side of the bracket, the second in the corresponding reserved spot on the blue side of the bracket. The same procedure was carried out with the remaining unseeded clubs.
The draw continued with the seeded sides, starting with the pairing ranked 15/16. The process was the same as described above for the unseeded teams, finishing with the teams ranked 9/10 to complete the pairings for the knockout round play-offs. In principle, the seeded clubs play the return leg at home.
Where is the 2025 Champions League final?