European football is about to get a lot more exciting and, for Italian fans, potentially a lot more painful. On Friday 27 February 2026, UEFA is holding one of the most anticipated events in the continental football calendar: the Champions League Round of 16 draw. Taking place at 12:00 CET (11:00 UK time) at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland, the draw will not only reveal the Round of 16 fixtures, but map out the entire group through to the final, including the quarter-finals and semi-finals.
With sixteen elite clubs set to battle it out from March to May, the ceremony promises to offer some mouth-watering potential clashes, but it also comes in the shadow of a seismic shift in the power structure of European football.
How we got here
The 2025/26 Champions League stage ran from September 2025 to 28 January 2026, with 36 teams competing over eight matches for the 24 places in the knockout stage. The top eight qualified directly into the round of 16 as seeds, while those who finished 9th to 24th entered the knockout stage play-offs for a second chance.
Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Tottenham HotspurBarcelona, Chelsea, Sporting CP and Manchester City are already through to the round of 16 as the best eight in the league phase. They were joined over the last two weeks by eight survivors of the brutal knockout round, a two-legged tie that has already ended the dreams of some of the biggest names in European football.
The Italian crisis overshadowing the draw
Perhaps the biggest story in today’s draw isn’t who’s in, but who might not be. Italian football is staring down the barrel of a historic embarrassment: for the first time since 1987-88, Serie A could be without a single representative in the round of 16.
Last season’s runners-up Inter Milan were surprisingly knocked out by Norwegian debutants Bodø/Glimt, losing 3-1 in Norway before going down 2-1 at the San Siro. It is the first time that Inter have been eliminated from the Champions League by a team from outside Europe’s top five leagues. Juventus and Atalanta are still alive but face near-impossible tasks: Juve must overturn a 5-2 deficit against Galatasaray, while Atalanta are 2-0 up against Borussia Dortmund heading into Wednesday’s first leg.
“This is a great awakening for Italian football,” Italian football journalist Daniele Verri told the BBC. “The level of Italian football is low. It’s a structural problem. We play very slow football… and Europe suffers.”
The crisis is deeper than the results. Italy’s best players leave: former Serie A top scorer Mateo Retegui left for Saudi Arabia, Ademola Lookman joined Atletico Madrid and Tijjani Reijnders swapped AC Milan for Manchester City. Meanwhile, European football expert Julien Laurens pointed to a failure in youth development, noting that successful teams such as Sporting CP, Club Brugge and Bodø/Glimt have thrived on strong academies and keen scouting, areas where Italian clubs are falling behind.
The last Italian team to win the Champions League was Jose Mourinho’s Inter in 2010. The fear now is that without structural reform, the wait for another will only get longer.
The format and how the drawing works
The eight winners of the two-legged knockout stage play-offs join the top eight from the league stage in the round of 16 draw, with the top eight from the league stage qualifying for the occasion.
Clubs are grouped based on their positions at the end of the league stage to form four seeded pairs: clubs in positions 1 and 2, 3 and 4, 5 and 6, and 7 and 8. The draw starts with the bottom pair (Sporting CP and Manchester City) and goes up to the top pair (Arsenal and Bayern Munich), the Silver Blue or Bayern Munich.
Crucially, this draw not only determines the tie for the last 16, but also sets up all the support until Budapest. Fans will be able to see exactly which path each club must travel to the final.
Potential ties that make your mouth water
Arsenal or Bayern Munich will face one of the winners of Atalanta v Borussia Dortmund or Bayer Leverkusen v Olympiacos; Liverpool or Tottenham will face Club Brugge against Atletico Madrid or Galatasaray against Juventus; Barcelona or Chelsea will be paired with a winner of Monaco v PSG or Qarabağ v Newcastle United; and Sporting CP or Manchester City will face one of Real Madrid, Benfica, Inter Milan or Bodø/Glimt.
The prospect of a rematch between Manchester City and Real Madrid makes fans dream, as well as a possible blockbuster between PSG and Barcelona. And, with the right twist, Norwegians Bodø/Glimt, fresh from their stunning elimination of Inter, could yet face one of the competition’s giants in the last 16.
The way to Budapest
The first leg of the round of 16 is scheduled for March 10 and 11, and the second leg on March 17 and 18. The quarter-finals follow on 7-8 and 14-15 April, the semi-finals on 28-29 April and 5-6 May, with the grand final on 30 May 2026 at the Puskás Arena in Budapest, the first time the iconic stadium will host a Champions League final.
Defending champions and title contenders
Paris Saint-Germain are the reigning champions, but face a tough road back to the finals. Arsenal, dominant throughout the league phase, enter as the top seed and look the team to win. But with Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester City all in the mix, nothing is guaranteed.
One thing is certain: today’s draw will spark debate, excitement and, at least in some corners of Europe, great anxiety. The road to Budapest begins now.
Watch the draw live on UEFA.com, UEFA.tv and the official UEFA Champions League app.
