trofeo uefa champions league

BARÇA AWAITS OPPONENT IN THE ROUND OF 16

Matchups to be defined: This is how the next two draws of the Champions League will be

Published:23/01/2025 - 18:32h

Updated:23/01/2025 - 18:32h

Next Friday, January 31, in Nyom, UEFA will hold a new draw to define the matchups for the knockout stage of the Champions League. With the new format, the draw system also changes

Calendar of FC Barcelona

The UEFA Champions League will conclude its league phase next Wednesday, January 29, with a matchday of 18 games in which the 24 qualifiers for the next phase will be determined, including the eight that advance directly to the round of 16. So far, only Liverpool and FC Barcelona have guaranteed their presence in the TOP-8, while nine other clubs (Bologna, Sparta Prague, Leipzig, Girona, Red Star, Sturm, Salzburg, Slovan, and Young Boys) are already eliminated.

In this sense, once the general table is defined, UEFA will hold a new draw next Friday, January 31, in Nyom, Switzerland. How will this draw work? Unlike the previous 20 seasons, the matchups will be defined by the position each club occupies in the general table. Thus, each team will have two possible opponents based on their final league position.

This is how the new Champions draw for the knockout rounds works

Next week, the matchups for the 'play-off' will be drawn to determine the other eight qualifiers for the round of 16. The playoffs will take place between Tuesday, February 11, and Wednesday, February 19. The ninth and tenth placed teams (currently, Aston Villa and Monaco) will face the teams in 23rd and 24th place (Sporting CP and Stuttgart). The draw will only determine which club faces each one; that is, if Aston Villa faces Stuttgart, Monaco will automatically face Sporting, with the return match at the home of the better-placed team.

Similarly, the teams placed between 11th and 12th will face the 21st and 22nd, while the 13th or 14th will go against the 19th or 20th, and finally, the fifteenth and sixteenth will clash against the 17th and 18th positions. In turn, the winners of each playoff will go against the TOP-8 clubs according to their final position in the table. Hence the importance of qualifying in the best possible position.

Barça and Liverpool can only meet in the final

Thanks to this format, Liverpool and Barça can only meet in the final if they finish the league phase first and second, respectively. Both would wait for the winners of the matchups between 9th and 10th against 23rd and 24th. Thus, the Blaugrana team could face Real Madrid or Bayern Munich in the round of 16, just like the 'reds', but both would be placed on opposite sides of the final bracket.

With the current format, there are no restrictions by country or previous matchups. Everything is defined according to the position each club occupies in the general table. Thus, the fourth and fifth placed teams will face the winner of the 'play-off' between the 11th and 12th vs 21st and 22nd, with both teams (4th and 5th) separated in each block of the bracket. And so on for the rest of the matchups, which will be configured through another draw identical to the one next week. In the case of the quarter-finals, the matchups will be defined according to the brackets determined.