The knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League might already be underway, but a bracket mapping out the rest of the competition is still yet to come. While it may seem out of the ordinary compared to other soccer tournaments like the World Cup, it’s a regular feature of the Champions League in its current format. UEFA treats each stage of the competition like an individual event, including separate draws for the group stage and the round of 16, before a final draw for the quarterfinals that sets the stage for the rest of the tournament.
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With the round of 16 at the halfway point, a bracket is on its way but while we wait, here’s what you need to know about the structure of the Champions League knockouts both this seasonand next season, when UEFA changes the format.
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What’s the current structure?
After the qualification process, UEFA does three draws during the course of a Champions League season: a group stage draw, a round of 16 draw and a draw ahead of the quarterfinals that will confirm each team’s paths to the final on June 1 at London’s Wembley Stadium.
When does the round of 16 end?
After the first legs of each round of 16 matchup took place during the last weeks of February, Champions League play resumes on March 5. The eight remaining matches of the round will be spread out over a two-week period, ending on March 13.
Here are the aggregate scores of the round of 16 ties following the first leg.
- Copenhagen 1, Manchester City 3
- RB Leipzig 0, Real Madrid 1
- Paris Saint-Germain 2, Real Sociedad 0
- Lazio 1, Bayern Munich 0
- PSV 1, Borussia Dortmund 1
- Inter 1, Atletico Madrid 0
- Porto 1, Arsenal 0
- Napoli 1, Barcelona 1
The winners of each tie will advance to the quarterfinals and will learn their roads to the final in the upcoming draw.
When is the draw for the quarterfinals and semifinals?
The last draw of the season will take place on March 15 at 6 a.m. ET, two days after the round of 16 wraps up. No teams will be seeded for this draw, meaning each of the remaining teams can be drawn against each other and based on the order of their selection will be placed into slots on the bracket labeled as quarterfinal 1, quarterfinal 2, quarterfinal 3 and quarterfinal 4.
For the semifinal draw, four balls representing the winners of each quarterfinal will be randomly selected and matched up against one another.
The quarterfinals will take place from April 9 to April 17, while the semifinals will be played out from April 30 to May 8.
Will this structure change next year for the new format?
The Champions League is switching to the Swiss model beginning next season, which will see an expanded field and new method of competition. Starting next season, the first stage of the Champions League will have 36 teams rather than 32 and will replace the group stage with a league stage. In the league stage, each team will play eight matches — up from six in the group stage — and will be ranked in a single table to determine who advances to the knockouts.
The knockout stages will also look different next season. The teams ranked first through eighth in the league stage will advance directly to the round of 16, while those ranked ninth through 24th will face each other in the knockout round playoffs for a spot in the next round. From the round of 16, the Champions League will resume a familiar format.
UEFA will once again have three draws next season but will introduce the bracket earlier than it has in the past. The league stage draw will take place on Aug. 29, while the knockout round playoffs draw will be staged on Jan. 31, 2025. The round of 16 draw, meanwhile, that will also establish the bracket for the remainder of the tournament, will take place on Feb. 21, 2025.