Football

Champions League draw LIVE! Real Madrid, Newcastle and PSG learn play-off fate

Seeded and unseeded teams find out why they face across two legs in February

Alex Young30 January 2026

Champions League draw LIVE! Real Madrid, Newcastle and PSG learn play-off fateSeeded and unseeded teams find out why they face across two legs in FebruaryChampions League knockout stage play-off draw in full REUTERS

Champions League draw LIVE

The league phase is over but there remains 16 teams still battling for a place in the Champions League knockout stage as the path to glory today begins to become clearer. Five of the Premier League’s six teams are already safely into the last-16 - Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester City - but Newcastle face a two-legged play-off in February.

A 1-1 draw away at holders Paris Saint-Germain was not enough to make it a clean sweep for English sides, so Newcastle join PSG in today’s draw looking for a kind match-up to secure their spot in the knockout stage proper. Also in the mix are perennial winners Real Madrid, who saw Benfica score past them on Wednesday, and could face the Portuguese side.

Inter Milan, Juventus and Atletico Madrid are also among the seeded teams, while Borussia Dortmund are the team to avoid among the unseeded, which also includes the likes of Galatasaray, Monaco and Bodo/Glimt. Follow the draw LIVE below with Standard Sport’s dedicated blog! The action begins from 11am GMT.

Champions League draw latest news

Play-off draw in full

Live updates

So, an instant rematch between Real Madrid and Benfica. Jose Mourinho will surely be relishing that.

Newcastle are probably quite happy with their draw against Qarabag, though a trip to Azerbaijan in the midweek between trips to Aston Villa and Manchester City is not ideal.

Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco in an all-French affair, while Juventus face a daunting trip to Galatasaray before the second leg at home.

REUTERS

The first legs will be played across February 17 or 18.

The second legs will held the following week across February 24 and 25.

Champions League knockout stage play-off draw in full

Benfica vs Real Madrid

Bodo/Glimt vs Inter Milan

Monaco vs Paris Saint-Germain

Qarabag vs Newcastle

Club Brugge vs Atletico Madrid

Galatasaray vs Juventus

Borussia Dortmund vs Atalanta

Olympiacos vs Leverkusen

That’s it!