Champions League play-offs and knockouts: What we know so far about Arsenal, Liverpool, Spurs, Chelsea and Man City going straight to the last 16 | Soccer News

The Champions League campaign ended in a thrilling fashion with 61 goals scored in 18 simultaneous matches, including one from Benfica goalkeeper Anatoly Trubin.

Leaders Arsenal maintained their perfect record with a 3-2 win over Kairat Almaty. Liverpool, Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester City also achieved top eight finishes and progressed to the last 16.

Here are some of the key themes of the league stage and what we know about the impending knockout stage.

Premier League clubs dominate

The final standings highlight the strength of the Premier League.

Five of the top eight teams are English clubs, but no other country has at least one club.

Germany, Spain and Portugal each have representatives from Bayern Munich, Barcelona and Sporting.

Newcastle are the only English side to miss out on a top-eight finish, but will go into the knockout phase play-offs as one of the seeded teams who finished 12th, and will face one of the two unseeded teams in Qarabag or Monaco.

Since introducing the league phase format last season, the Premier League has recorded a total of eight top-eight finishes. This is more than twice as many as any other league, followed by Spain’s La Liga with three.

England confirmed to be in top 5 of Champions League

One of the benefits of England’s teams doing so well in Europe is that they are almost certain to repeat last season’s feat, when the Premier League finished in the top two on UEFA’s table and qualified for fifth place in the Champions League.

With five Premier League teams heading straight into the Champions League last 16 and all nine European Premier League teams still in their respective competitions, England sit comfortably at the top of the table ahead of Germany.

Newcastle benefited from that last season, finishing fifth in the Premier League and qualifying for this season’s Champions League. The door is now open for opponents to take advantage as the English team continues their strong performance on the continent.

When can England teams play?

There is no prospect of an all-English play-off as Newcastle are the only English club participating in the knockout phase of the play-offs.

The earliest opportunity for the two English teams to meet could be with Newcastle facing Chelsea in the last 16, but that would have to wait until the draw for the last 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals on February 27.

The earliest opportunity for any other All England fixture is in the quarter-finals, with Manchester City facing Arsenal and Chelsea or Newcastle potentially facing Tottenham or Liverpool.

Newcastle extra matches

Five of the six Premier League teams will benefit from back-to-back midweek frees in February as they have progressed straight into the last 16, but Newcastle will add two more games to their already busy schedule.

Eddie Howe’s side will play the first and second legs of the play-offs on February 17th or 18th and February 24th or 25th, with a Premier League match away to Manchester City on February 21st and at home to Everton on February 28th.

Arsenal can’t face Bayern until the final

Arsenal’s first place finish gives them many advantages. As the No. 1 seed, they will not be able to play against 15th or higher seeds in the last 16, against 7th or higher seeds until the quarter-finals, against Liverpool or Tottenham until the semi-finals, and will be able to avoid facing Bayern Munich until the final.

Additionally, they will benefit from a new rule this season where the top two teams in the league phase will play the second leg at home for the entirety of the match.

Man City could face Real Madrid again…

The match between Manchester City and Real Madrid has become an annual event in the Champions League. The two teams have faced each other in this competition for five consecutive seasons, having already met in a league match in December.

They will now meet again in the last 16.

Real Madrid have moved into the play-offs and will face either City or Sporting if they can break through the play-off ties with Benfica or Bodo/Glimt.

If the results of the last knockout tournament are anything to go by, a new encounter between Real Madrid will be good news for the neutrals. 40 goals have been scored in the last five matches, with Madrid winning three times and City winning twice.

Mourinho’s Benfica rescues but big club loses

In an incredible drama in Lisbon, Jose Mourinho’s Benfica qualified for the play-offs on goal difference thanks to goalkeeper Trubin’s goal in the 98th minute against Real Madrid.

Remarkably, Benfica could face Mourinho’s former club in the play-offs, with that goal simultaneously dropping Real Madrid to ninth place.

However, despite accusations that there was no danger to the big clubs after the introduction of the league phase system last season, there were still some big threats this time.

In fact, six of the clubs that were eliminated were European Cup winners, and among the 12 clubs that were eliminated were previous champions Ajax, Marseille and PSV Eindhoven.

Napoli, last season’s Serie A champions, won just two of eight games under manager Antonio Conte, losing 3-2 to Chelsea and ending the season in 30th place in the league.

Spain’s Villarreal, who have twice reached the Champions League semi-finals, fared even more subduedly, failing to win a single game and finishing in 35th place, second from bottom, with only a point from eight games.

When is the Champions League knockout stage in 2025/26?

Playoff Draw: January 30, 2026
Knockout Playoffs: February 17-18 and 24-25, 2026
Round 16: March 10-11 and 17-18, 2026
Quarterfinals: April 7-8 and 14-15, 2026
Semi-finals: April 28-29 and May 5-6, 2026
Finals: Saturday, May 30, 2026

Where will the Champions League final be held in 2026?

The 2025/26 Champions League final will be held on Saturday 30th May at the Puskas Arena in Budapest.