Potential opponents, how to watch live, fixture dates – UEFA Champions League last-16 play-off draw details | OneFootball

Manchester City find themselves at risk of exiting the UEFA Champions League entirely, but also on the verge of securing a play-off place for the last-16 of the competition.

After a string of hugely disappointing results throughout the course of the eight-game league phase of the competition so far, Pep Guardiola and his players come into their final outing against Club Brugge in 25th position.

Manchester City, who won this very competition at the end of the 2022/23 season for the first time in the club’s history, know that only a win against the Belgian side would secure themselves a place in the play-off round for the last-16.

The Premier League champions saw themselves to succumb to a 4-1 away defeat to Sporting CP, before throwing away a three-goal lead at home to Feyenoord to draw 3-3, and lose 2-0 in a drab away loss to Juventus on matchday six.

An away trip to Paris Saint-Germain followed in the penultimate game of the league phase, as City once again gave up an advantage to lose, take a 0-2 lead early in the second-half only to concede four goals to Luis Enrique’s men.

And ahead of the final matchday in this season’s league phase of Europe’s premier club competition with all still to play for, here is everything you need to know ahead of the last-16 play-off draw in the UEFA Champions League!

When will the UEFA Champions League last-16 play-off draw take place?

The 2024/25 UEFA Champions League knockout phase play-off draw takes place from 11:00 (UK) on Friday 31 January, with the procedure conducted at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland.

How does the UEFA Champions League last-16 play-off draw work?

Eight bowls are prepared for the draw, with balls containing the names of the seeded and unseeded teams placed in pairs in the corresponding marked bowls according to the league phase rankings.

The draw starts with the unseeded teams, allocating each team from a pair of unseeded teams to one of the relevant pre-determined positions in the bracket, starting with the sides ranked 23/24 and finishing with those in 17/18.

One ball is taken from the bowl containing the two relevant ranked teams (i.e. the teams ranked 23 and 24) and is opened to display the team. The first team drawn from this bowl is placed in their reserved spot on the silver side of the bracket. The other unseeded team of the pairing is then drawn and displayed, and allocated in the corresponding reserved spot on the blue side of the bracket.

The same procedure is carried out with the remaining unseeded clubs.

Once all the pairings of unseeded teams have been drawn and assigned to an appropriate position on the bracket, the draw continues with the seeded sides, starting with the pairing ranked 15/16. The process is the same as described above for the unseeded teams, with the first team drawn from the relevant bowl allocated to the reserved designated spot on the silver side of the bracket and the second team on the blue side.

The procedure is repeated for the remaining pairings, finishing with the teams ranked 9/10 to complete the pairings for the knockout round play-offs.

In principle, the seeded clubs play the return leg at home.

Credit: UEFA

Sides can face another team from the same national association in the knockout phase play-offs. Clubs can also face opponents they met during the league phase.

How can I watch the UEFA Champions League last-16 play-off draw?

UEFA have confirmed that the full draw procedure will be streamed live on UEFA.com, while City Xtra will offer an instant outcome should Manchester City be present in the draw on our social media channels and website.

Which teams have secured a UEFA Champions League last-16 play-off place?

The teams that finished between ninth and 24th in the league phase will compete in a two-legged knockout phase play-off to secure their path to the last 16 of the competition.

When will UEFA Champions League last-16 play-off matches be played?

The knockout phase play-offs are played over the course of two weeks:

First legs: 11/12 February 2025

Second legs: 18/19 February 2025

Each club will, in principle, play once on a Tuesday and once on a Wednesday. UEFA will confirm the calendar, including match dates and kick-off times, on the evening of the draw.

If matches are impacted by stadium or city clashes, these will be resolved in accordance with the applicable principles set by the Club Competitions Committee.

What does that mean for Manchester City’s fixture schedule?

For Manchester City, that would mean that a first-leg play-off clash would take place after the FA Cup fourth round tie away to Leyton Orient, and before the Premier League meeting with Newcastle United at the Etihad Stadium.

The second-leg would follow the latter of the aforementioned two fixtures, and come before Manchester City’s mammoth meeting with Liverpool at home in the Premier League on Sunday 23 February.