AF Outlook: UCL Round of 16 Draw, What to expect?

On February 27th, 11:00 UTC, Round of 16 draw will release the matchups, home/away, and time schedule of the Knockout phase matches. AllFootball takes you through what to see next before the draw!

After two weeks and four matchdays of competitions, UEFA Champions League Play-off matches have all wrapped up. PSG, Newcastle United, Atletico Madrid, Galatasaray, Bodo Glimt, Real Madrid, Atalanta and Leverkusen advanced to the Knockout round. The final draw of this UCL season will determine the fixed opponents of each candidate, their home and away schedule, up until the final on May 30th at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest, Hungary.

Complete Possible Matchups:

Arsenal/Bayern Munich vs Leverkusen/Atalanta

Liverpool/Tottenham vs Atletico Madrid/Galatasaray

FC Barcelona/Chelsea vs Paris Saint-Germain/Newcastle United

Sporting CP/Manchester City vs Real Madrid/Bodo Glimt

Knockout Draw Regulation:

In this draw, the number 1 to 8 teams in the Swiss stage are seeded teams, and the teams qualified from the Play-off round are unseeded teams. The draw will be split into four brackets, each with its pre-planned sets listed above. Each seeded team will contend with one of the two possible unseeded opponents in the set. The seeded team will compete first away, then at home.

If the seeded teams with higher rank qualify, they will maintain the benefit of "first away, then at home" in their following rounds. If the seeded teams are eliminated, the team that defeats them will take over this benefit in the following matches. 

As this is the last draw in this year's Champions League, every team will know their potential opponents up to the final.

Knockout Matches Schedule:

Round of 16

First Legs: March 10–11, 2026

Second Legs: March 17–18, 2026 

Quarter-finals

First Legs: April 7–8, 2026

Second Legs: April 14–15, 2026 

Semi-finals

First Legs: April 28–29, 2026

Second Legs: May 5–6, 2026 

Final

Date: May 30, 2026

Venue: Puskás Aréna, Budapest, Hungary