Champions League play-off draw: start time, rules, where to watch on TV
The Champions League play-off draw takes place today, Friday, January 30, 2026, at 12:00 CET, involving Inter, Juventus and Atalanta.
Serie A sides Inter, Juventus and Atalanta will find out their opponents in the Champions League knock-out play-off today.
The Nerazzurri were the best-placed Italian team in the league phase, followed by Juventus and Atalanta, while Napoli were eliminated. All the Italian clubs are seeded teams, which means they’ll play the return leg at home.
Inter (10th) and Real Madrid (ninth) will be drawn against either Benfica (24th) or Bodo/Glimt (23rd) in the play-off rounds.
Juventus (13th) and Atletico Madrid (14th) will be drawn against either Galatasaray (20th) or Club Brugge (19th).
Atalanta (15th) and Bayer Leverkusen (16th) will be drawn against either Olympiacos (18th) or Borussia Dortmund (17th).
Below are the teams involved in the Champions League knock-out play-off.
Seeded
Real Madrid (ESP)
Inter (ITA)
Paris (FRA)
Newcastle (ENG)
Juventus (ITA)
Atleti (ESP)
Atalanta (ITA)
Leverkusen (GER)
Unseeded
B. Dortmund (GER)
Olympiacos (GRE)
Club Brugge (BEL)
Galatasaray (TUR)
Monaco (FRA)
Qarabağ (AZE)
Bodø/Glimt (NOR)
Benfica (POR)
Champions League knock-out play-off draw rules
The clubs are paired based on their positions at the end of the league phase to form four seeded pairs (clubs in positions 9 and 10, 11 and 12, 13 and 14, and 15 and 16) and four unseeded pairs (positions 17 and 18, 19 and 20, 21 and 22, and 23 and 24).
The clubs in each seeded pair are drawn into the knockout phase bracket, against the clubs in each unseeded pair: clubs 9 or 10 against clubs 23 or 24, clubs 11 or 12 against clubs 21 or 22, clubs 13 or 14 against clubs 19 or 20, and clubs 15 or 16 against clubs 17 or 18.
Champions League knock-out play-off draw – where to watch
The draw will be streamed live on UEFA.com and the official UEFA Champions League app. Football Italia will provide live updates via a live blog. The Europa League play-off draw will take place at 13:00 CET, and Bologna will be the only team involved, as Roma have qualified for the Round of 16 by finishing 8th.