The draw for the Champions League play-offs takes place with Manchester City and Celtic set to face either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich for a chance to reach the knockout stage.
Liverpool, Arsenal and Aston Villa are already through after claiming one of the top-eight spots in the inaugural league phase, but they will have to wait for next month’s last-16 draw for the knockout bracket to be fully set.
Premier League champions City scraped through by beating Club Brugge and, as the 22nd seeds, know they will face a true European heavyweight in the next round. Madrid and Bayern both failed to finish in the top-eight as well and one of them is guaranteed to face Pep Guardiola’s side, with the other playing Celtic.
Liverpool finished top of the league standings and will face one of Paris Saint-Germain, Benfica, Monaco or Brest, while Arsenal know one of AC Milan, PSV Feyenoord or Juventus awaits them. Aston Villa, the eighth seeds, can prepare for one of Atalanta, Borussia Dortmund, Sporting or Club Brugge.
This morning’s draw in Nyon determine the play-offs and you can follow all the updates in the live blog below. The Europa League draw will follow at around 12pm GMT.
Who has qualified directly for the last 16?
The clubs who finished in the top eight of the group stage qualified directly for the last 16. Those teams are:
- 1st: Liverpool
- 2nd: Barcelona
- 3rd: Arsenal
- 4th: Inter Milan
- 5th: Atletico Madrid
- 6th: Bayer Leverkusen
- 7th: Lille
- 8th: Aston Villa
Jamie Braidwood31 January 2025 08:10
How does the draw work?
The teams that finished between ninth and 16th in the league standings will be seeded for the play-offs draw, and they will each be drawn against an unseeded team that finished between 17th and 24th in the table.
The seeded team will have the slight advantage of playing the second leg at home.
Teams will also be paired together in the draw, so the two sides who finished ninth and 10th will be drawn against either the 23rd or 24th placed sides; the teams who finished 11th and 12th will be drawn against either the 21st or 22nd-placed sides, and so on.
The eight winners from the play-offs will meet the top eight from the league phase in the last 16, where straight knockout rounds will run all the way to the final.
Jamie Braidwood31 January 2025 08:02
When is the Champions League draw?
The Champions League play-offs draw will take place on 31 January 2025. The draw will take place from 11am GMT.
The draw takes place at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland, and will be streamed live on UEFA.com.
Jamie Braidwood31 January 2025 08:01
Good morning
The new Champions League format for 2025 will see the knockout play-off round in action for the first time in February, to decide which teams enter the last-16.
The top eight teams in the final Champions League league-phase table will automatically go through to the last 16. They will be joined by the winners from the play-offs; a set of eight two-legged ties between those clubs who finished between ninth and 24th in the league standings.
There are five British sides in the Champions League, with Liverpool, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Manchester City and Celtic all hoping to go far in the competition.
Jamie Braidwood31 January 2025 08:00
