JuicyTalk
Manchester City and Real Madrid will renew their Champions League rivalry in this season’s round of 16 after being paired together this morning.
City won 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu in the league phase in December and the sides have clashed in each of the last five seasons and in six of the last seven.
It means another trip to Madrid for City’s former Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola.
The winner of that tie will face either Atalanta or Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals.
Defending champions Paris Saint-Germain were paired with Chelsea – the London club beat PSG in the final of the Club World Cup last summer – while Barcelona will hope to reprise their league phase win at Newcastle when they return to St James’ Park.
Bodo/Glimt’s reward for stunning Inter Milan in the play-offs is a winnable tie against Sporting CP. If they get through that, the Norwegian minnows will play either Bayer Leverkusen or Arsenal.
Struggling Spurs will have to get past Diego Simeone’s Atlético Madrid. Madrid’s director of football Mateu Alemany told Movistar: “You have to look at Tottenham’s record in Europe, which has been brilliant. A top-level team, whatever the draw was going to be difficult, the important thing is to focus on our performance.”
The silver path looks considerably harder than the blue path. The former contains six previous winners as well as the current title holders.
Only Barcelona and Arsenal can claim to have genuine title aspirations in the blue path.
The draw for the Champions League round of 16 is:
Paris Saint-Germain v Chelsea
Real Madrid v Manchester City
Newcastle v Barcelona
Bodo/Glimt v Sporting CP
Galatasaray v Liverpool
Atalanta v Bayern Munich
Atletico Madrid v Tottenham
Bayer Leverkusen v Arsenal
The draw for the Champions League quarter-finals is:
Paris Saint-Germain or Chelsea v Galatasaray or Liverpool
Real Madrid or Manchester City v Atalanta or Bayern Munich
Newcastle or Barcelona v Atletico Madrid or Tottenham
Bodo/Glimt or Sporting CP v Bayer Leverkusen v Arsenal
The draw for the Champions League semi-finals is:
Silver path: PSG/Chelsea/Galatasaray/Liverpool v Real Madrid/Manchester City/Atalanta/Bayern Munich
Blue path: Newcastle/Barcelona/Atlético Madrid/Tottenham v Bodo/Sporting CP/Bayer Leverkusen/Arsenal
Champions League schedule 2025/26
Each team played eight matches in the league phase of the Champions League, all against different opponents.
The top eight sides in the table qualified automatically for the round of 16. The teams finishing in ninth to 24th competed in a two-legged knockout phase play-off to reach the last 16.
Teams finishing 25th or lower were out of Europe for the season.
| Stage | Dates |
| Round of 16 | March 10/11 & 17/18 2026 |
| Quarter-finals | April 7/8 & 14/15 2026 |
| Semi-finals | April 28/29 and May 5/6 2026 |
| Final | May 30 2026 |
English teams in the Champions League: Why are there six clubs?
Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea and Newcastle all qualified as the top five teams in the Premier League.
There were five places for English teams because extra positions are awarded according to UEFA’s co-efficient rankings, which are based on the overall performances of nations across European competition over a season.
Spurs qualified as Europa League champions, despite losing 22 and winning only 11 of their 2024/25 league games and finishing 17th.
Two of the clubs involved changed managers before the knockout phase: Liam Rosenior replaced Enzo Maresca at Stamford Bridge in January, and Igor Tudor – who started the season in charge of Champions League club Juventus – took over from Thomas Frank at Tottenham in February.
Where is the Champions League final?
The final will take place on May 30 2026 at the The Puskas Arena in Budapest, which opened in 2019 and is home to Hungary’s national team.
The arena hosted a dramatic 2022/23 Europa League final, when Sevilla beat Roma on penalties following a 1-1 draw after extra time.
