On Friday, Jan. 30, the Champions League knockout playoff round draw will unfold at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland. Sixteen clubs that finished ninth to twenty‑fourth in the league phase will be paired, with the top‑eight teams already secured a spot in the round of 16.

Seeding keeps higher‑placed clubs from meeting early. The nine‑to‑sixteenth finishers are seeded; the seventeenth‑to‑twenty‑fourth finishers are unseeded. The draw first places unseeded teams into the bracket, then seeds them opposite, ensuring each playoff fixture pits a seeded side against an unseeded one.

Real Madrid, sitting ninth, will face Internazionale, the tenth‑placed club, while Paris Saint‑Germain, ranked eleventh, meets Newcastle United, twelfth. These pairings set the stage for a tense clash that could shape the path to the round of 16 and influence the balance of power in the competition.

Fans will watch the draw live, as the bracket determines who faces whom in the knockout phase. The outcome will dictate the route to the quarter‑finals and set up potential matchups for the elite clubs, making the next week a pivotal moment for European football.