How does the Champions League knockout phase work?

The knockout phase has five rounds: the play-offs, the round of 16, the quarter-finals, the semi-finals and the final. The sixteen clubs in the round of 16, the top 8 and the eight play-off winners, play over two legs, home and away. The same goes for the play-offs, the quarter-finals and the semi-finals. Only the final is a single match. The club that scores the most goals over the two legs goes through.

If both clubs are level on goals over the two legs after the second leg, extra time of two times 15 minutes follows. If that does not settle it, a penalty shoot-out decides. That is a difference from the league phase, where there is no extra time and a draw simply earns 1 point. The clubs in places 25 to 36 are eliminated after the league phase and do not move on to another European competition.

In numbers: of the 36 clubs, 24 remain after the league phase. After the play-offs that is 16, after the round of 16 it is 8, after the quarter-finals 4 and after the semi-finals 2. You can read more about the format of the whole tournament on the page about how the Champions League works. How the table works in the league phase is explained on the page about the Champions League standings.

The play-offs: who plays whom?

The play-off is the extra round for the clubs in places 9 to 24. These 16 clubs are split into seeded clubs (places 9 to 16) and unseeded clubs (places 17 to 24). Each seeded club plays an unseeded club. The pairings follow the table: 9 or 10 meets 23 or 24, 11 or 12 meets 21 or 22, 13 or 14 meets 19 or 20 and 15 or 16 meets 17 or 18. The draw assigns the opponents within each pairing. That means the highest-placed clubs meet the lowest-placed unseeded clubs.

Each play-off consists of two matches. Seeded clubs normally play the second leg at home. The first legs are on 16 and 17 February 2027 and the second legs on 23 and 24 February 2027. An example: if a club finishes the league phase in ninth place, it meets the club from place 23 or 24. A club that finishes tenth also meets one of those two. The winners go through to the round of 16. The losers are out and do not drop into the Europa League.

The dates come from UEFA and kick-off times can still be added after the draw. The time of each match is only fixed once UEFA confirms it.

The round of 16: the top 8 against the play-off winners

In the round of 16, the eight best clubs of the league phase meet the winners of the play-offs. The top 8 are seeded and normally play the second leg at home. The first legs are on 9 and 10 March 2027 and the second legs on 16 and 17 March 2027.

The round of 16 follows a fixed bracket, as in a tennis tournament. After the draw, not only the ties but also the possible route to the final are settled. A club then already knows who it could meet in the quarter-final and the semi-final, if it gets that far. The seeded clubs are grouped in pairs according to their place in the table: 1 and 2, 3 and 4, 5 and 6, and 7 and 8.

Because of that fixed bracket, the final place in the league phase has value. A club in the top 8 not only skips an extra round, but also plays the second leg at home and meets a club that has just come through a play-off in the round of 16. Whoever loses in the round of 16 is out. There is no second chance in another European competition. UEFA sets the dates and kick-off times of the matches.

Quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final in Madrid

After the round of 16, eight clubs remain. They play the quarter-finals, again over two legs. The four winners play the semi-finals, also over two legs. UEFA sets the dates of the quarter-finals and semi-finals in spring 2027. This page only lists the dates that UEFA has confirmed. The quarter-finals and semi-finals follow the fixed bracket that is known after the draw for the round of 16.

The final is a single match at a fixed venue. In 2027, the final is played on Saturday 5 June 2027 at the Estadio Metropolitano in Madrid, the home of Atlético Madrid. If the score is level after 90 minutes, extra time of two times 15 minutes follows, and if needed a penalty shoot-out. The winner is European champion, plays in the UEFA Super Cup and is guaranteed a place in the next edition of the Champions League.

A quick calculation shows how many matches a finalist plays. A club from the top 8 plays, at best, 8 matches in the league phase, 2 in the round of 16, 2 in the quarter-finals, 2 in the semi-finals and the final: 15 matches in total. A club that comes through the play-offs plays 2 more, so 17.

What does the table after matchday 4 mean for the knockout phase?

Standings after matchday 4, read on 10 November 2026. After four matchdays, Liverpool are eighth with 9 points, the last place for a direct ticket. PSV are 24th with 4 points, the last place for the play-offs. That is a snapshot and not a forecast: there are still four matchdays to play and the final table can look very different.

A worked example shows what the position means. Club Brugge are ninth with 9 points. If the club finishes in that place, Club Brugge would play the play-off as a seeded club against a club from place 23 or 24, with the second leg at home. After matchday 4 those are Atlético Madrid and PSV. This is a calculation based on the current table and not a prediction of the final table. You can read the table and the schedule of the Belgian club on the Club Brugge in the Champions League page.

What it takes to reach the top 8 differs from season to season. In 2025/26 it was 16 points for eighth place and 9 points for 24th place. In 2024/25 it was 16 points for eighth place and 11 points for 24th. In both seasons the top 8 line was therefore at 16 points and the play-off line between 9 and 11 points. A direct ticket to the round of 16 saves two matches.

The draws and what is not yet confirmed

There are two draws in the knockout phase. The first is the draw for the play-offs, after the final matchday of the league phase on 27 January 2027. The second is the draw for the round of 16, after the play-offs. That draw also fixes the bracket for the quarter-finals and semi-finals. We will only give the day of those draws once UEFA confirms the date.

Until the draw, it is not known who plays whom. The dates of the quarter-finals and semi-finals, the kick-off times and the exact layout of the bracket also follow later from UEFA. On this page we only list what UEFA has confirmed. So check the latest information before each matchday, because dates and kick-off times can still change.

For bets on a knockout match, settlement can differ per market, for example whether extra time counts. Always read the terms of the market. How markets and odds work is explained on the page how to bet on the Champions League. You can find the matches and markets on the Champions League page. Where to watch the matches is on the where to watch the Champions League page. More about the tournament is on the page with everything about the Champions League.

Frequently asked questions

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