Every Team Qualified for the 2025–26 Champions League Knockout Stages

One team booked their place in the knockout rounds after just five league phase fixtures.

Thirty-six teams are chasing Champions League glory. | James Gill/Danehouse/Getty Images

There will be plenty of teams competing in this season’s Champions League who are more than satisfied with simply making it to the league phase.

Kairat Almaty, for instance, can take great pleasure in reaching this round of the competition for the first time in club history—even if their opponents may begrudge having to travel further east than ever before.

Yet for the continental giants, the league phase is nothing more than an inconvenience to be navigated with as little fuss as possible before the real business gets underway in the knockout stage—or rather, that’s how many would like to see it. However, as the likes of Ajax, Benfica and Chelsea have discovered, there are no easy games on the continent.

As the league phase tilts towards its dizzying climax, when all 18 fixtures on the eighth and final matchday are played on the same day at the same time, some clubs have already booked their place in the elimination phase.

The top 24 from the 36-team league phase table make it through, with the leading eight advancing immediately to the round of 16. Those placed between ninth and 24th have to first duke it out across a series of two-legged knockout playoffs before being paired with the top eight.

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Every Team Guaranteed to Play in the Champions League Knockout Rounds

Real Madrid’s stars were sensational against Monaco. | Diego Souto/Getty Images

Bayern Munich followed Arsenal into the knockouts with several games of the league phase to spare. Vincent Kompany’s Bundesliga champions may have been bitter in the wake of their north London defeat, but they bounced back to earn a 3–1 win over Sporting CP which took them up to 15 points from six games—the same tally they were able to muster across their first eight matches of last season’s Champions League campaign.

Real Madrid planted one foot in the knockouts with a thumping of Monaco in the penultimate week of the league phase but are not yet assured of a top-eight finish. However, the Spanish giants, much like Tottenham Hotspur and Bayern, are guaranteed to rank inside the top 16, and thereby at least be seeded should they drop into the knockout playoffs.

Defending champions Paris Saint-Germain are also assured of a spot in the knockouts but they and Manchester City have once again been dragged into the uncertainty of a potential knockout playoff spot which they endured last season.

Surprise package Atalanta were also among the first clubs to ensure they will advance to at least the knockout playoffs. Despite changing their manager midway through the league phase and scoring just eight goals across their first six matches, the 2024 Europa League champions have come good on the continent.

Sporting CP’s shock victory over PSG saw the Portuguese giants book their spot in at least the top 24, where they will be joined by Inter, Atlético Madrid and Liverpool.

Team	Qualification Status
Arsenal	Guaranteed round of 16
Real Madrid	At least seeded for knockout playoffs, round of 16 still possible
Bayern Munich	At least seeded for knockout playoffs, round of 16 still possible
Tottenham	At least seeded for knockout playoffs, round of 16 still possible
PSG	At least qualified for knockout playoffs, round of 16 still possible
Sporting CP	At least qualified for knockout playoffs, round of 16 still possible
Man City	At least qualified for knockout playoffs, round of 16 still possible
Atalanta	At least qualified for knockout playoffs, round of 16 still possible
Inter	At least qualified for knockout playoffs, round of 16 still possible
Atlético Madrid	At least qualified for knockout playoffs, round of 16 still possible
Liverpool	At least qualified for knockout playoffs, round of 16 still possible

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Every Team Qualified for Champions League Round of 16

Arsenal are eyeing a perfect finish in the league phase. | Alessio Morgese/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Arsenal became the first side to definitively seal their place in the round of 16, and they didn’t even have to play a game, benefitting from Manchester City’s shock defeat to Bodø/Glimt before rubber-stamping their lofty status with a 3–1 win over Inter at San Siro.

The Gunners are now guaranteed of securing a top-two finish, ensuring that they will play one of the lowest ranked clubs that make it through to the knockout playoffs.

Much has been made of how Liverpool proved that finishing top of the league phase table is no guarantee of success—Arne Slot’s side infamously led the standings before getting dumped out in the last 16 a year ago.

However, the Reds have also shown that there are other factors behind a demise which extended beyond being beaten by eventual champions Paris Saint-Germain via a penalty shootout. In fact, aside from PSG, last season’s Champions League semifinalists finished inside the league phase table’s top four.

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