Champions League: Who plays who in quarter-finals after last-16 ties?

Last Updated: March 12, 2025Categories: SportsBy Views: 18

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Media caption, Champions League highlights: Aston Villa 3-0 (Agg 6-1) Club Brugge

Aston Villa will play Paris St-Germain and Arsenal will face Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

Unai Emery’s current and former clubs cruised through on Wednesday with home second-leg wins.

Villa beat Club Brugge 3-0 to secure a 6-1 aggregate win, with Arsenal’s 2-2 draw with PSV giving Mikel Arteta’s side a 9-3 two-legged victory.

Paris St-Germain beat Premier League leaders Liverpool on penalties on Tuesday after a 1-1 aggregate draw.

Real Madrid edged Atletico on penalties to knock them out of the Champions League for the fifth time in 11 years.

The other quarter-final ties see Inter Milan play Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund face Barcelona.

Highlights of every Champions League game are available on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.

Media caption,

Champions League highlights: Arsenal 2-2 (Agg 9-3) PSV

Route to the final

How are the English sides doing?

Liverpool suffered their first setback under manager Arne Slot after they were beaten 4-1 on penalties by PSG at Anfield.

The French champions had looked to be heading out of the competition in the league phase before a late run of form saw them finish 15th in the standings, and now they are hitting their stride when it matters most.

PSG will face 1982 European champions Aston Villa in the quarter-finals in April.

It is Villa’s first European Cup or Champions League quarter-final since 1983.

Fellow English Premier League side Arsenal were effectively through after they thrashed PSV 7-1 in the first leg. The second leg ended 2-2.

Arsenal and Aston Villa would meet in the semi-finals, if they both won their quarter-final ties.

Manchester City lost to Real Madrid in the previous round, the knockout phase play-offs.

When are the quarter-finals and semi-finals?

The first legs of the quarter-finals take place on 8 and 9 April, with the second legs taking place one week later.

The semi-finals then take take place on 29 and 30 April for the first legs, with the return fixtures on 6 and 7 May.

When and where is the final?

The final takes place on 31 May at the Allianz Arena in Munich.

Is an El Clasico final possible?

Yes.

Barcelona and Real Madrid have never met in a Champions League final or European Cup final before.

But, being on the opposite sides of the draw, they would meet in the final if they came through their quarter-final and semi-final ties.

A repeat of last year’s final between Real and Borussia Dortmund is also possible.

How do countries earn an extra Champions League spot for next season?

Each country’s league earns a coefficient ranking based on how their teams perform in Uefa’s three men’s club competitions: the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League.

Coefficient points are earned through match results – two for a win and one for a draw.

The points earned by clubs from the same domestic league are added up and divided by the number of clubs the league has in Europe.

For example, if the Premier League had 100 points, that would be split by the number of teams playing in Europe (seven), giving England a coefficient of 14.28.

This season, bonus points are available to clubs playing in the Champions League, which is advantageous to leagues with more clubs competing in it, such as Germany and Italy.

Countries that finish in the coefficient table’s top two earn an additional Champions League spot for the following season.

Those spots are awarded to the teams who finish in the first position below the standard Champions League allocation in those leagues.

In the Premier League, the top four clubs automatically qualify for the Champions League via league position, so any additional place would go to the team in fifth.

Additional spots for the 2024-25 Champions League were given to Bologna and Borussia Dortmund, who finished fifth in Serie A and the Bundesliga respectively.

Who is leading the coefficient table? Could England get a fifth Champions League spot?

England are top of the coefficient table, despite Liverpool following Manchester City in exiting the Champions League.

Italy are second but endured a dismal time in February with AC Milan, Atalanta and Juventus all losing in the knockout play-off round – limiting Serie A’s opportunity to gather more points.

Spain are third in the rankings, but Germany’s prospects appear difficult with Bayern Munich and Dortmund in the same half of the Champions League draw.

Paris St-Germain are France’s only representatives remaining in the Champions League, with Lille losing in the last 16 and Monaco and Brest exiting at the play-off stage. Lyon, in the Europa League, are the only other French side left in European competition.

What about the Europa League winners?

England could end up with seven Champions League teams next season.

The winners of the Europa League, as well as the Champions League, are granted a spot.

Under previous rules, any single league could only have a maximum of five clubs in the Champions League. However, that rule has been scrapped.

This season, any team who win the Europa League or Champions League but do not qualify for the Champions League via their domestic league position will go into the Champions League.

This raises the possibility of Manchester United or Tottenham, both through to the knockout stage of the Europa League but languishing in the bottom half of the Premier League, qualifying for the Champions League alongside the top four or five.

Watch highlights of every Champions League game from 22:00 on Wednesday on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.

There will also be a Champions League Match of the Day on BBC One on Wednesday, from 22:40 to 00:00.

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