UEFA Champions League Knockout Play-offs Explained: Possible Match-ups, Key Fixtures, Draw & More
The newly introduced 36-team league phase of the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 has wrapped up excitingly with 18 matches played simultaneously in the final round on Wednesday evening to decide the last 24 teams to advance to the Knockout Play-offs and Round of 16 stages.
The top 8 place teams have confirmed their berth in the last 16 of the competition and clubs that finished in 9th to 24th spot on the points table will play a two-legged Play-offs to determine their fate in Europe’s premier competition.
Meanwhile, Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, LOSC Lille, Inter Milan, Bayer Leverkusen and Aston Villa are the teams to have secured immediate qualification for the Round of 16, following the top-eight finish and avoided the Play-offs Round.
When is the UEFA Champions League Knockout Draw?
The UEFA Champions League knockout playoff draw is set to take place on the 31st of January 2025 at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland. The Draw ceremony will be streamed live on UEFA.com.
Teams placed from ninth to 16th will be seeded together for instance (9th,10th,11th,12th, and so on) and drawn against a team from unseeded for example (17th, 18th,19th 20th etc), and the seeded team will have four potential opponents from unseeded pairs.
Notably for a change in this year’s knockout draw clubs from the same country or any team who have already met in the league phase are allowed to draw against each other unlike in the retired format of the competition.
| Seeded Teams | Unseeded Teams |
|---|---|
| Atalanta (ITA) | Monaco (FRA) |
| Borussia Dortmund (GER) | Brest (FRA) |
| Real Madrid (ESP) | Feyenoord (NED) |
| Bayern München (GER) | Juventus (ITA) |
| Milan (ITA) | Celtic (SCO) |
| PSV (NED) | Manchester City (ENG) |
| Paris Saint-Germain (FRA) | Sporting CP (POR) |
| Benfica (POR) | Club Brugge (BEL) |
Also Read: Where to Watch Champions League Playoff Draw Live For Free?
Potential Opponents for Man City, Real Madrid, PSG & Bayern Munich in UEFA Champions League Knockout Play-offs
Some of the biggest teams in Europe such as Premier League champions Man City, Ligue 1 winners PSG, German giants Bayern Munich and Record 15 times competition winners Real Madrid, Juventus and Dortmund — all have fallen short of cementing their berth in the top eight of the UEFA Champions League
All the aforementioned big clubs have missed out on direct qualification as a result they are set to take part in the inaugural Play-offs Round to understand their path to the last 16. Meanwhile, the Table below demonstrates who could be the potential opponents of these teams to be drawn against to kick off the two-legged-play proceedings:
| Team (Seeded) | Possible Opponents (Unseeded) |
|---|---|
| Atalanta | Sporting, Club Brugge |
| Borussia Dortmund | Sporting, Club Brugge |
| Real Madrid | Celtic, Manchester City |
| Bayern Munich | Celtic, Manchester City |
| Milan | Feyenoord, Juventus |
| Juventus | Milan, PSV Eindhoven |
| Paris Saint-Germain | Monaco, Brest |
| Manchester City | Real Madrid, Bayern Munich |
Potential Opponents Benfica, Monaco, PSV, Brest & Celtic in UEFA Champions League Knockout Play-offs
After understanding the imaginable opposition of big guns of European football, it’s time to shift our focus to other noteworthy clubs that will be in action during the UEFA Champions League knockout Play-offs and are likely to face the likes of Dortmund, Real Madrid, PSG and Bayern Munich.
| Team (Seeded) | Possible Opponents (Unseeded) |
|---|---|
| Benfica | Monaco, Brest |
| Monaco | PSG, Benfica |
| Brest | PSG, Benfica |
| Feyenoord | Milan, PSV |
| PSV | Feyenoord, Juventus |
| Celtic | Real Madrid, Bayern |
| Sporting | Atalanta, Dortmund |
| Club Brugge | Atalanta, Dortmund |