Real or Bayern will be favourites against City – Guardiola

Manchester City will face Real Madrid in a blockbuster Champions League play-off tie, with Celtic taking on Bayern Munich for a place in the last-16.

Premier League champions City scraped through by beating Club Brugge and, as the 22nd seeds, knew they would face a true European heavyweight in the next round. Holders Madrid failed to finish in the top-eight as well, setting up a massive two-legged tie against City. Celtic, meanwhile, will be huge underdogs against German giants Bayern.

Liverpool, Arsenal and Aston Villa are already through after claiming one of the top-eight spots in the inaugural league phase, but they will have to wait for next month’s last-16 draw for the knockout bracket to be fully set.

Liverpool finished top of the league standings and will face one of Paris Saint-Germain, Benfica, Monaco or Brest, while Arsenal know one of AC Milan, PSV Feyenoord or Juventus awaits them. Aston Villa, the eighth seeds, can prepare for one of Atalanta, Borussia Dortmund, Sporting or Club Brugge.

This morning’s draw in Nyon will determine the play-offs and you can follow all the updates in the live blog below. The Europa League draw will follow at around 12pm GMT.

Champions League knockout round dates

Knockout phase play-offs: 11/12 & 18/19 February 2025

Last-16: 4/5 & 11/12 March 2025

Quarter-finals: 8/9 & 15/16 April 2025

Semi-finals: 29/30 April & 6/7 May 2025

Jamie Braidwood31 January 2025 11:27

FULL Champions League play-off draw

Manchester City vs Real Madrid

Sporting vs Borussia Dortmund

Jamie Braidwood31 January 2025 11:26

Champions League draw

Sporting vs Borussia Dortmund

Jamie Braidwood31 January 2025 11:25

Champions League draw

Manchester City vs Real Madrid

Jamie Braidwood31 January 2025 11:24

Jamie Braidwood31 January 2025 11:23

Jamie Braidwood31 January 2025 11:22

Champions League draw LIVE

These clubs will be on the left side of the bracket (I think this only becomes important next month when the rest of the knockout stage draw is made):

Club Brugge vs Atalanta/Borussia Dortmund

Manchester City vs Real Madrid/Bayern Munich

These clubs will be on the right:

Sporting vs Atalanta/Borussia Dortmund

Celtic vs Real Madrid/Bayern Munich

Feyenoord vs AC Milan/PSV

Jamie Braidwood31 January 2025 11:22

Champions League draw LIVE

We start by drawing the seeded teams (9th to 16th, including Real Madrid) into the bracket, that will be followed by drawing the unseeded teams (17th to 24th, including Man City and Celtic) into the available slots, by pairing.

Jamie Braidwood31 January 2025 11:17

Champions League draw LIVE

Basically… we’re about to find out:

9th/10th to play 23rd/24th – Atalanta/Borussia Dortmund to play Sporting/Club Brugge

11th/12th to play 21st/22nd – Real Madrid/Bayern Munich to play Celtic/Manchester City

13th/14th to play 19th/20th – AC Milan/PSV to play Feyenoord/Juventus

15th/16th to play 17th/18th – PSG/Benfica to play Monaco/Brest

Jamie Braidwood31 January 2025 11:15

Champions League draw LIVE

Thiago says he’s been impressed with Atalanta and Monaco so far in the Champions League, as well as Leverkusen, Lille and Aston Villa.

A quick look at today’s draw procedure and then we’ll be on our way.

Jamie Braidwood31 January 2025 11:13