The UEFA Champions League is the most celebrated club tournament in the world, and has been won most-often by Real Madrid, who extended their own record tally by beating Borussia Dortmund at Wembley in 2024. For the 2024-25 season we also see a new format (explained below) as the league phase will bring a totally different look to the tournament.

The UEFA Champions League returns Tuesday, Feb. 11 with the first set of knockout stage playoff games. The first legs will wrap up Wednesday, Feb. 12 with the return fixtures taking place a week later.

Friday morning, UEFA conducted the draw for the Champion League's new playoff phase, which essentially adds one more round to the previous format's knockout stage. 16 teams were sorted, with pairings influenced (but not entirely determined) by order of finish in the group stage.