Real Madrid Face Benfica AGAIN in Champions League Playoff Clash

The group stage of this year’s Champions League wrapped up with intense matches and dramatic shifts in standings right at the final moments. Now, the focus turns to today’s playoff draw in Nyon at 1 pm, which will determine the teams advancing to the round of 16.

The playoffs will feature clubs ranked 9th to 24th after the group phase, split into seeded and unseeded pools. The draw follows a clear set of rules:

Clubs are paired based on their standings, creating four seeded pairs from ranks 9-16 and four unseeded pairs from ranks 17-24.

Each seeded pair will be drawn against an unseeded pair. For example, the 9th (Real Madrid) or 10th (Inter) placed teams can face 23rd (Bodø/Glimt) or 24th (Benfica). Other matchups include:

11th (PSG) or 12th (Newcastle) vs. 21st (Monaco) or 22nd (Quarabag)
13th (Juventus) or 14th (Atletico Madrid) vs. 19th (Brugge) or 20th (Galatasaray)
15th (Atalanta) or 16th (Bayer Leverkusen) vs. 17th (Borussia Dortmund) or 18th (Olympiacos)

There’s no restriction against clubs from the same country or those who faced each other in the group stage meeting again. This means Real Madrid could meet Benfica once more following their dramatic clash in the final group match.

Seeded teams will host the second legs of the playoffs. The first legs kick off on February 17-18, with return legs a week later. The eight winners will join the top eight from the group stage to complete the lineup for the round of 16. That draw will take place on February 27.

The playoff fixtures are: