The path to the 2025-26 UEFA Champions League final in Budapest, Hungary, is all set.
The path to the 2025-26 UEFA Champions League final in Budapest, Hungary, is all set. After the conclusion of the knockout playoff round, the remaining 16 teams now have a better idea of what it will take to lift the famous trophy. For now, though, attention turns to the round of 16. Here are those…
After the conclusion of the knockout playoff round, the remaining 16 teams now have a better idea of what it will take to lift the famous trophy.
For now, though, attention turns to the round of 16. Here are those fixtures in full:
Paris Saint-Germain vs Chelsea
Galatasaray vs Liverpool
Real Madrid vs Manchester City
Atalanta vs Bayern Munich
Newcastle United vs Barcelona
Atlético Madrid vs Tottenham Hotspur
Bodø/Glimt vs Sporting CP
Bayer Leverkusen vs Arsenal
The clutch of contests features some tantalizing matchups, including face-offs between teams with notable rivalries in the competition.
But which two-legged fixture is the best of the bunch? Ahead, we’ve ranked the eight meetings based on competitiveness, form, tournament history, and the potential for drama.
8. Bayer Leverkusen vs. Arsenal
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Unfortunately, it looks like Bayer Leverkusen doesn’t really stand a chance against Arsenal.
This likely no-contest will be dominated by the Gunners, who topped the UCL League Phase with a perfect record and are still the team to beat domestically.
Bayer, on the other hand, are sixth in the Bundesliga, finished 16th in the League Phase, and only just edged Olympiakos in the knockout playoffs.
While the Bundesliga side did pick up one impressive result in the competition’s opening stage, claiming a 2-0 away victory over Manchester City, the result came against a starting XI missing several regular starters. Elsewhere, they were also embarrassingly thumped 7-2 by Paris Saint-Germain.
Arsenal have cruised through the competition so far, conceding just four and notching a League Phase-high of 23 goals.
With the London side boasting a fearsome rearguard and with goals coming from all over the squad, Bayer might as well just throw in the towel.
7. Atalanta vs. Bayern Munich
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The sole representative of Italian football in the UCL round-of-16 is Atalanta, who currently sit seventh in Serie A, a distant 19 points off top spot.
After coming back from a 2-0 deficit in the knockout playoff against Borussia Dortmund, securing a 4-1 win in the second leg at home, their prize is a meeting with another German side—and a much tougher one.
Bayern Munich are comfortably on top of the Bundesliga, a substantial eight points ahead of Atalanta’s last UCL opponents. That doesn’t bode well for the side from Bergamo to keep the Italian flag flying.
Die Roten lost just once in the League Phase to table-toppers Arsenal, and they will be confident of swatting aside La Dea on a likely run to the final. This matchup will be pretty one-sided.
6. Bodø/Glimt vs. Sporting CP
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While this isn’t the most dramatic matchup, it will at least be competitive, and it does offer the opportunity for a bit of history.
Should Sporting CP win, Os Leões will reach their first European Cup quarterfinal since 1983.
If Bodø/Glimt triumph, it will mark the first time Den Gule Horde has ever reached that stage, and it will represent the best performance by a Norwegian club in Europe’s premier club competition since Rosenborg reached the same round in 1996-97.
The Portuguese side scraped into the round-of-16 in stunning fashion, skipping the knockout playoff after a last-minute goal against Athletic Club earned them a seventh-place finish in the League Phase.
Meanwhile, Bodø/Glimt continued their run of stunning upsets against supposedly more impressive teams by toppling Internazionale in the knockout playoff, winning 3-0 at home and 2-1 in the San Siro.
Those who love an underdog story will certainly be rooting for the Norwegians, who have played some excellent football in their remarkable UCL run. Since they are in their domestic league’s offseason and only have the competition to focus on, it wouldn’t be at all surprising if they use those fresher legs to give Sporting the runaround.
5. Newcastle vs. Barcelona
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On paper, this should be a clear win for Barcelona. La Blaugrana have already beaten Newcastle United this season, grabbing a 2-1 win in the opening game of their UCL campaign.
The Magpies have performed well below expectations in 2025-26, despite losing their best player from last season and a spate of frustrating injuries. Still, that doesn’t forgive just one victory against the Premier League’s current top eight.
Barcelona, though, is pretty much exactly where it should be, at the top of La Liga and comfortably into the UCL knockout rounds.
Newcastle will be a different proposition for Barça this time, with new signings having settled in and chemistry a little better than in the previous meeting. But even if the English side can get a result at home, the squad will be overwhelmed when it gets to the Camp Nou for the second leg.
It will be an interesting contest, and the Magpies won’t go down easily. But the talent gap between the two sides is just too big, and Barcelona will ultimately prevail.
4. Atletico Madrid vs. Tottenham Hotspur
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This tie could either deliver a dire display of football between two teams disappointing domestically or provide a thrilling contest featuring opponents with little else to play for this season.
Let’s hope it’s the latter.
Tottenham Hotspur are the worst of the pair, flirting dangerously with the Premier League’s relegation zone despite inexplicably finishing fourth in the UEFA Champions League League Phase.
Atletico Madrid, meanwhile, are fourth in La Liga and a far cry from a title challenge, and they could only grab a 14th-place finish in the UCL’s opening stage.
Los Rojiblancos had a scare in the knockout playoff, managing only a 3-3 draw against Club Brugge in the first leg after taking a 2-0 lead. However, they at least improved with a 4-1 win at the Wanda Metropolitano, and that home tie against their upcoming European opponents should again prove the difference.
Despite Spurs somehow stepping things up in European competition and having fresher legs, Atletico should have this one in the bag. The London side has looked almost devoid of fight in Premier League action, while Atletico’s battling spirit is almost legendary.
It could be a bruising couple of legs for Spurs.
3. Galatasaray vs. Liverpool
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While Liverpool will perhaps consider it a blessing that it won’t have to suffer another UCL knockout meeting against Atletico Madrid, a visit from Galatasaray isn’t ideal.
The Turkish side beat the Reds 1-0 at home in the second game of the League Phase, marking Liverpool’s first loss of the season and beginning a run of just one win in the next five games for the Merseysiders.
Arguably, it was the point where Liverpool’s defense of the Premier League title went out of the window.
A weak Reds backline will be given hell by Victor Osimhen, who scored the only goal of the game the last time the teams met.
The Lions are narrowly on top of the Turkish Süper Lig, and the opening fixture of the round-of-16 being at home will give them the opportunity to put fear in the hearts of Liverpool and the club’s fans.
While European nights under the lights at Anfield are supposed to be different, Liverpool have been dreadful this season, and this fixture could deliver the biggest shock of the round.
2. Paris Saint-Germain vs. Chelsea
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Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea are no strangers in the Champions League’s round-of-16.
The pair met at that stage in the competition’s 2014-15 and 2015-16 editions, with the Blues knocked out both times.
However, the London side did beat the French capital outfit in the 2013-14 quarterfinal, so PSG have not always been Chelsea’s bogey team in Europe.
In football terms, that’s all ancient history, but the reigning UCL champions will be quietly confident that they can dispatch the Blues in the last 16 once again.
Chelsea’s fortunes have slightly improved under Liam Rosenior, but back-to-back league draws against the division’s struggling clubs have dampened optimism somewhat.
PSG, on the other hand, isn’t having a typically dominant domestic season, but they are still at the top of Ligue 1. While they once again had to go through the UCL’s knockout playoff, that wasn’t an issue last year, when they went on to win the whole thing.
Bank on the French side’s cohesiveness and general stability to win out against the famously erratic Premier League side, who might snatch a home win but will come undone in Paris.
1. Real Madrid vs. Manchester City
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Real Madrid and Manchester City must be sick of the sight of each other.
They have faced off in the competition’s knockout stages in every season but one since 2019-20. The Spanish side came out on top on each occasion, except in 2022-23, when City went on to lift the title.
They also met in the League Phase of this season’s edition, with the Citizens coming away with a 2-1 victory at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Without a doubt, this is the headline matchup of the round of 16, pitting two of the world’s biggest clubs against each other, and it’s really tough to call.
City have struggled at points this season, but they are slowly finding some consistency and can never truly be counted out.
Los Blancos, meanwhile, are still in the hunt for the La Liga title, but a crisis is never too far behind, and they seriously faltered in the League Phase—a shocking situation for a club with such a storied history in the tournament.
A meeting between two sides who are flitting between genius and disaster this season will make for a delicious pair of fixtures, and the victor will also knock out a potential tournament favorite. It will be a feast for the fans, the neutrals, and every other hopeful club.
