UEFA Champions League 2025-26: Which Teams Qualified For Round Of 16 Following Conclusion Of Play-Offs?

The UEFA Champions League 2025-26 has completed both its inaugural 36-team league phase and the ensuing knockout play-offs, locking in the 16 clubs that will contest February’s Round of 16.

Arsenal wrote a new chapter of European history by sweeping all eight league fixtures for a maximum 24 points, finishing first overall. Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Barcelona, Chelsea, Sporting CP and Manchester City also secured direct passage by placing inside the automatic-qualification positions in the single-table Swiss Model.

That left positions 9-24 to battle for the remaining eight berths. Two-legged ties produced a mixture of heavyweight escapes and seismic upsets.

Real Madrid edged Benfica 3-1 on aggregate, Vinicius Júnior scoring the decisive goal at the Bernabéu after a tie laced with controversy and a provisional UEFA suspension for Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni.

Holders Paris Saint-Germain survived a late Monaco rally, winning 5-3 on aggregate despite a frantic 2-2 draw in the second leg that ended with Monaco’s Wout Faes heading inches wide of forcing extra time.

Newcastle United rode a first-leg master-class from Anthony Gordon—four goals inside 45 minutes in Baku—to oust Qarabag 11-4 on aggregate, while Atletico Madrid relied on a hat-trick from Alexander Sorloth to see off Club Brugge 7-4.

Bayer Leverkusen kept their fifth straight home clean sheet to dispatch Olympiacos 2-0, and Atalanta stormed back from 2-0 down on aggregate to beat Borussia Dortmund on a last-kick penalty, the latest regulation goal ever recorded in a UCL knockout match.

Galatasaray ended an 11-year wait for knockout football, overcoming Juventus 7-5 in a pulsating extra-time victory in Turin, and Norwegian champions Bodo/Glimt stunned Inter Milan 5-2 to become the story of the round.

The eight play-off winners—Real Madrid, PSG, Newcastle United, Atletico Madrid, Atalanta, Bayer Leverkusen, Galatasaray and Bodo/Glimt—now join the top-eight seeds.

The Round of 16 draw will be held on Friday, 27 February 2026, at 4:30 pm IST in Nyon, Switzerland, with seeded teams hosting the second legs.