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After matchday 8 in the UEFA Champions League, we have the teams that will take their place in the knockout play-off, which is introduced new to the competition in the 2024-25 season. The top eight teams in the league phase qualify automatically in the round of 16, and the team finishing in ninth to 24th place kick off the knockout stages. They compete in a two-legged knockout phase play-off to secure their path to the last 16.
Liverpool take the top spot 📈
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) January 29, 2025
Aston Villa secure automatic qualification ✅
Man City are in the play-off stages 🤝
Your 2024/25 Champions League phase standings 📊 pic.twitter.com/aumSJ16bkv
The teams that finish the league phase between the ninth to sixteenth will be seeded for the first draw of the knockout phase and will face a team from the 17th to the 24th. Potential opponents are also pre-defined by the pairing of teams' final league position, for example, the team finishing ninth and tenth will face the teams that ended 23rd and 24th; teams finishing 11th and 12th will be drawn against.
Explanation of the draw:
The draw process is structured to match seeded teams (ranked 9th to 16th) against unseeded teams (ranked 17th to 24th) it begins with the unseeded clubs, where balls containing their names are drawn to determine their placement in the bracket. The process starts with the lowest-ranked unseeded pair (23rd and 24th) and moves upwards. Once all unseeded teams have been assigned positions the draw continues with the seeded teams, following the same method, starting from the 15th and 16th pairing up to the 9th and 10th.
The seeded teams will play the second leg of their play-off ties at home, offering them a slight advantage. The winners of these matchups will join the eight automatically qualified teams in the round of 16, where the competition will follow a traditional bracket system in the UEFA Champions League 2024-25.
Sides can face another team from the same national association in the knock-out phase play-offs. Clubs can also face opponents they met during the league phase.
A visual to show how the champions league playoff works for those not sure of how it properly works
— FPLSlick (@FPLSlick) January 23, 2025
Teams outside of top 8 play a two legged game winner qualifying for RO16. Mapped out below 👇 #LFC #Liverpool pic.twitter.com/5FifmAacrm
Teams:
| SEEDED TEAMS | COUNTRY | UNSEEDED TEAMS | COUNTRY |
| Atalanta | Italy | AS Monaco | France |
| Borussia Dortmund | Germany | Stade Brest 29 | France |
| Real Madrid | Spain | Feyenoord | Netherlands |
| Bayern Munich | Germany | Juventus | Italy |
| AC Milan | Italy | Celtic | Scotland |
| PSV Eindhoven | Netherlands | Manchester City | England |
| Paris Saint Germain | France | Sporting Cp | Portugal |
| Benfica | Portugal | Club Brugge | Belgium |
Champions League Knockout Phase:
- Knockout phase play-off draw: 31st January
- Knockout phase play-offs: 11/12 and 18/19 February
- Round of 16 Quarter Finals, Semi-Finals draws: 21st February
- Round of 16: 4/5 and 11/12 March
- Quarterfinals: 8/9 and 15/16 April
- Semi-Finals: 29/30 April and 6/7 May
- Final: 31st May (Munich)
The #ChampionsLeague schedule:
Knock-out phase play-off draw: Fri 31 Jan, 11am
KO phase play-offs: 11/12 & 18/19 Feb
Rof16, quarter-final, semi-final draws: 21 Feb
Rof16 games: 4/5 & 11/12 Mar
Quarter-finals: 8/9 & 15/16 Apr
Semi-finals: 29/30 Apr & 6/7 May
Final: 31 May, Munich pic.twitter.com/BtMwud8TgH— Bar One Racing (@BarOneRacing) January 30, 2025
