Champions League draw: Who can Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid face?

The league phase of the 2024-25 Champions League came to an end on Wednesday, and there will be three La Liga teams in the knockout stages. Barcelona and Atletico Madrid made it through to the last 16 after finishing inside the top 8, while Real Madrid will be involved in the play-off round.

The draw for the knockout stages will be held on Friday, at which point Real Madrid will find out their opponents for the play-offs, while Barcelona and Atleti will know which two teams they could come up against in the last 16.

Mundo Deportivo have released a graphic to show the possible opponents for the three La Liga teams, and it makes for interesting viewing.

Due to finishing 11th in the league phase, Real Madrid will be drawn against Celtic or Manchester City in their play-off tie. Carlo Ancelotti’s side, who defeated Brest on MD8, have faced the Premier League giants in the last three seasons, and it could be four in a row depending on Friday’s draw. If they were to win that tie, they could face Atleti, although Bayern Munich may end up being Los Colchoneros’ opposition instead.

The bottom half of the draw, which features Real Madrid and Atleti, does look very strong, whereas Barcelona can be seen as having a more favourable run to a prospective Champions League final. Hansi Flick’s side, who drew 2-2 against Atalanta on Wednesday, will face one of AS Monaco, Brest, Paris Saint-Germain or Benfica. In the quarter-finals, their opponents could be Aston Villa or Borussia Dortmund.

Friday’s draw will be very interesting to follow. Barcelona will hope to avoid a possible match-up against PSG, while Real Madrid will want to keep away from Man City. For Atleti, they are likely to face one of Real Madrid, Man City or Bayern in their last 16 tie, which is a big case of bad luck.