Best Champions League playoffs matches: Jose Mourinho and Benfica face Real Madrid again, PSG-Monaco, more

The 2025-26 Champions League playoffs draw took place on Friday and gave us some big matchups ahead of the knockout stages as PSG, Real Madrid and Inter are among the top teams that will have to play the two additional matches in February. Jose Mourinho's Benfica will face Real Madrid again, only a few weeks after the exciting 4-2 win in Lisbon while Inter will face Bodo/Glimt in the two legged playoff with the return leg at San Siro. PSG and AS Monaco will face each others in a French derby and Newcastle will have to visit Azerbaijan's Qarabag before they face Manchester City away from home in the Premier League. Among the other matchups, Victor Osimhen will face his former Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti as Galatasaray will meet Juventus and Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid will meet Club Brugge. All ties will be played on the weeks of February 17-18 and 24-25. 

Champions League knockout playoff draw

• Benfica vs. Real Madrid
• Bodo/Glimt vs. Inter
• Monaco vs. Paris Saint-Germain
• Qarabag vs. Newcastle United
• Galatasaray vs. Juventus
• Club Brugge vs. Atletico Madrid
• Borussia Dortmund vs. Atalanta
• Olympiacos vs. Bayer Leverkusen

Benfica vs. Real Madrid

Let's start with the big one: Real Madrid will face again Jose Mourinho's Benfica few weeks after the incredibly eventful last matchday of the league phase, when the last-minute goal scored by goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin allowed Mourinho's side to sneak into the playoffs. Real Madrid manager Alvaro Arbeloa will also have a chance for revenge after his former coach managed to win such an incredible game in Lisbon and knowing that the Spanish giants will play the return leg at the Bernabeu. Real Madrid, despite the disappointing start to the season, that led to the arrival of Arbeloa, are considered among the faovrites to win the tournament, but the comeback of Mourinho in Madrid will definitely be a crucial turning point of their 2025-26 season. 

Borussia Dortmund vs. Atalanta

The German side will face Atalanta in the playoffs, making it one of the best and most unpredictable matches of the round. Borussia Dortmund lost the chance to end up in the top eight by losing 2-0 to Inter on the last matchday of the league phase while Atalanta also had a disappointing end of the first phase with a defeat against Union SG. The Nerazzurri had a difficult start of the season under manager Ivan Juric who replaced Gian Piero Gasperini at the club in the summer 2025, but things got much better since the new coach Raffaele Palladino took over and started a new cycle with the Italian team. Atalanta are one of the underdogs of the European campaign and can be a big surprise in the upcoming rounds. 

AS Monaco vs. PSG 

The French derby: AS Monaco will face PSG in the two legged playoffs as the 2024-25 Champions League champions will meet a French team in the playoffs just like last year when they had to face Brest in the same round. Despite the emotions of the French derby, this one should be a predictable matchup as PSG are now back at the top of the Ligue 1 standings while AS Monaco didn't have their best season so far, as they are currently 10th in the league standings with only no wins in the last five games.