FAQ
The draw for the intermediate round of the Champions League will take place on Friday, a possible encounter will be Borussia Dortmund against Bayer Leverkusen – and the winner may play against Bayern Munich.
Which opponents can they face? Bundesliga clubs meet?
Each club has two possible positions in the bracket before the knockout round draw.
That means:
- Borussia Dortmund is in the intermediate round and meets there Bayer Leverkusen or Atalanta Bergamo. Bayern Munich or Arsenal would be possible opponents in the round of 16. Dortmund has to play away in the second leg.
- Bayer Leverkusen is in the intermediate round and meets there Borussia Dortmund or Olympiakos Piraeus. Bayern Munich or Arsenal would be possible opponents in the round of 16. Leverkusen has home advantage in the second leg.
- Bayern Munich is in the round of 16 and will face a winner from two specific matches in the intermediate round. Atalanta Bergamo or Bayer Leverkusen meet up Borussia Dortmund or Olympiakos Piraeus. Bayern will have home advantage in the second leg against one of the two winners.
The tournament tree of the Champions League 2025/26
Can really teams from the same country meet?
This is basically possible from the knockout round onwards. The exclusion of matches between teams from the same country only applied in the league phase. Matches between teams that played against each other in the league phase are also possible.
When does the draw take place?
The intermediate round will be drawn on Friday at 12 p.m., the remaining knockout games from the round of 16 on February 27th.
So-called pairs of lots are formed. The teams in 9th and 10th place play against the teams in 23rd and 24th place. In the end, for example, the matches are 9 against 23 and 10 against 24 – or the other way around.
The Champions League is entering the decisive phase.
When will the first knockout games be played?
- Intermediate round: 17th/18th and 24/25. February
- Round of 16: 10th/11th and 17th/18th March
- Quarterfinals: 7th/8th and 14th/15th April
- Semi-finals: 28th/29th April and 5th/6th May
- Final: May 30th in the Puskas Arena Budapest
The Puskas Arena in Budapest
Why is which club in which round?
The positions in the 36-club table have the following meaning:
- Places 1 – 8: Round of 16 with home advantage in the second leg
- Places 9 – 16: Intermediate round with home advantage in the second leg
- Places 17 – 24: Intermediate round with home advantage in the first leg
- Place 25 – 36: eliminated
What changes are there for the 2025/26 season?
UEFA adjusted the competition in the knockout phase in terms of home law:
- The teams that reached places 1 to 4 in the table of the league phase should now have home rights in the second leg until the quarter-finals, provided they reach this round. The same applies to the teams placed 1st and 2nd in the semifinals.
- But: If one of these teams with a high position in the table is eliminated earlier, the seeding list will not be updated – instead, the winner of the match will receive the privilege of home advantage in the second leg. Example: If table 15. beats the first in the table, he will be treated like a first in the table for home advantage for the rest of the tournament.
