Champions League bracket: Real Madrid face Man City; Arsenal's path to finals

The 2025-26 season Champions League bracket is now set

By Francesco Porzio

Feb 27, 2026 at 9:32 am ET • 3 min read

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The road to the 2025–26 UEFA Champions League final is now officially set. Friday's draw defined the bracket for the remaining 16 teams involved in the tournament. Arsenal, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and PSG are considered as the most likely candidates to lift the trophy this season, as the Champions League final will be played just weeks before the 2026 FIFA World Cup kicks off across Canada, Mexico and the United States. Napoli, Juventus and Inter have all been eliminated, leaving Atalanta as the lone Italian representative still standing in the Round of 16, which begins on March 10. Let's now take a look at the bracket and the best matches to watch in the Round of 16:

Key Champions League dates

March 10-18: Round of 16
April 7-15: Quarterfinals
April 28-May 6: Semifinals
May 30: Final

Get ready for the Knockout Stage like never before with the UEFA Champions League Bracket Games! Create a pool to compete against friends or enter our Bracket Challenge for a chance to win a dream trip to London, including 2 UCL tickets and a tour of the UCL Today set! Plus, see how you stack up against UCL Today's own Jamie and Micah. Sign up now that brackets are unlocked after the Round of 16 draw, or play on the CBS Sports App!

The final bracket

The #UCL Round of 16 is set 🔏 pic.twitter.com/i272YajXlM
— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) February 27, 2026

The three best matchups to watch

3. Newcastle vs. Barcelona

For the second and third time this season, Newcastle will meet Barcelona after the 2-1 win of the side coached by Hansi Flick back in September, when Marcus Rashford scored his first two goals with the Blaugrana. This will definitely be a crucial test for Barcelona as they can potentially meet either Atletico Madrid or Tottenham in the quarterfinals before a semifinal against either Arsenal, Bayer Leverkusen, Bodo/Glimt or Sporting CP. Barcelona will try to repeat their path of the past season, when they were only eliminated by Inter in the semifinals in one of the most incredible matchups of recent years.

2. PSG vs. Chelsea

The rematch of the 2025 Club World Cup final will be one of the best matches to watch in March, as Luis Enrique's team will start their path to what would be a back-to-back Champions League win,s and on the other hand, the Blues will start off their knockouts under Liam Rosenior, who took over from Enzo Maresca in January 2026. Chelsea ended up in 6th place in the standings of the league phase, while PSG had to go through the playoffs, where they won against AS Monaco in the French derby. The two sides have faced each other in four previous Champions League campaigns, meeting eight times in total. Three of those games came in the knockout stages, with PSG winning the two most recent ties.

1. Real Madrid vs. Manchester City

This is now a classic of the Champions League. Real Madrid, the 15-time winner of the tournament, will meet Pep Guardiola's side for the sixth time in the last seven editions of the competition, where they featured some of the most memorable games, and lastly this season in the league phase, when City won 2-1 away at the Bernabeu. They've only met once in the Round of 16 back in the 2019-20 edition, won 4-2 by the English side. Get ready for what would be one of the best matchups of the season.