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Full European Fixture Draw Revealed - Every Round of 16 Matchup Broken Down

Just today the UCL round of 16 draws took place, and most importantly the paths to the final has been laid out for every team. We have some absolute crackers in line for us and as well as that there’s definitely a more favourable side of the bracket to be on. We’ll go through who some of the lucky teams are and some more unlucky ones.

The road to Budapest 🏆#UCLdraw pic.twitter.com/xT33xCchgq
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) February 27, 2026

And here we have it, the round of 16 fixtures along with the road to Budapest. I think it’s easy to point out who has been well favoured here, cough cough, Arsenal, cough cough.

PSG vs Chelsea

Starting off we have PSG facing off against Chelsea. Chelsea will have fond memories of this fixture, as it’ll be a two-legged rematch of the Club World Cup Final from back in the summer. That day Chelsea were incredibly dominant, as Palmer scored a brace, and a Joao Pedro goal saw the London side come away as 3-0 winners.

However, a lot has changed since then. Chelsea are under a new manager and despite the dominance PSG once had, that has seemingly disappeared and they look a lot more mortal now. This tie is definitely one of the best on offer for the Round of 16. My personal prediction will be PSG progressing to the quarter-finals.

Galatasaray vs Liverpool

Next up we have the Turkish league leaders facing the reigning Premier League champions. This game will in fact be a rematch of a league stage game where Galatasaray came away with the three points thanks to an Osimhen penalty as the game finished 1-0.

Despite Galatasaray coming away 1-0 winners in the league stage, it is definitely a different Liverpool side than the team that played the Turks back in September and most crucially, Liverpool will have the second leg at home, which is why my prediction is Liverpool progressing through to the quarter-finals.

Real Madrid vs Manchester City

And for about the hundredth time, City take on the Spanish giants in another UCL knockout game. Just like the Liverpool game it’s another rematch from a game in the League Stage; in that game, City travelled to the Bernabeu and came away 2-1 winners thanks to O’Reily and Haaland. But this is a fixture that certainly in the modern era has so much history. From the Rodrygo comeback to the 4-0 demolishing of Real Madrid. This game produces so many goals and so many iconic moments.

But since the League Stage game, City have improved their squad in January; bringing in Semenyo and Guehi will give them even more confidence that they can win over the two legs, and that’s what I think will happen. My prediction is Manchester City to go through to the quarter-finals.

Atalanta vs Bayern Munich

A rather unique tie takes place between the two sides; they’ve never faced each other before so there’s nothing to go off in terms of previous results between the two but we’re definitely set up for a cracker. Atalanta came back from two goals down in the first leg against Dortmund thanks to a Samardzic 98th-minute penalty. Bayern Munich remain as one of the favourites to win the competition, with players such as Kane, Olise, and Musiala, and the list goes on. Due to the overwhelming talent in the Bayern side, I’ve gone with them to progress. But this tie rounds off what is a completely stacked left side of the bracket.

Newcastle vs Barcelona

Moving onto the right-hand side of the bracket and for the third time we have a repeated league stage. Earlier in the competition, Barcelona were 2-1 winners thanks to a Marcus Rashford brace, and in that game Lamine Yamal didn’t feature due to injury so Newcastle will have to be at their very best if they want any hope of reaching the quarter-finals, all without Bruno Guimaraes.

With the second leg being played in Barcelona and without their best player, I just think this is where Newcastle’s Champions League campaign will come to an end; however, the first leg at St James’ Park will be so crucial in this tie.

Atletico Madrid vs Tottenham

A very meh tie on paper as relegation candidates Tottenham take on Atletico Madrid with the winner taking on either Newcastle or Barcelona. These two sides have never met in a competitive game before, the only other time being in 2016 in the Champions Cup, where Atletico won 1-0.

Despite Tottenham finishing in the top eight, a lot of their league stage games were against favourable opponents and this tie will be an incredibly tough test against a well-drilled Diego Simeone side. My prediction for the winner across the two legs is the Spanish side, who I think will have enough to get over the line.

Bodø/Glimt vs Sporting CP

Now probably the most underwhelming tie on paper. These two sides have probably been the two surprise packages of the tournament so far – Sporting managed to finish inside the top eight, beating teams like PSG, Marseille, Bilbao,, etc. They’ll be eyeing this matchup as a chance to progress through to the quarter-finals for the first time since the 1982/83 season.

Bodo/Glimt have just been phenomenal; being led by Kjetil Knutsen they’ve beaten Manchester City and Atletico Madrid and just beaten Inter Milan over two legs to progress to the knockout stages of the UCL for their first time ever. And I’m going for the dream to continue for Bodo fans, as I think they’ll progress to the quarter-finals.

Bayer Leverkusen vs Arsenal

And the final game of the round of 16 is the matchup between the Invincibles and the Invincibles. The League Stage table toppers will head to face Leverkusen for the first time in a competitive game. Arsenal, who are yet to even draw a Champions League game, will be incredibly hopeful about this year’s campaign considering they’ll play the winners of Bodo/Glimt and Sporting CP.

But Leverkusen will be hoping that this is an opportunity to take down the competition favourites; they’ll know the pressure will be on the Gunners to progress through and have the opportunity to capitalise on a team that’s been known to bottle competitions in recent years. Despite that, my prediction is that Arsenal will progress through to the quarter-finals.

So that’s all the ties gone through; the likes of Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Arsenal and maybe even Tottenham will be counting their lucky stars that they landed on the right-hand side of the bracket. However, it’ll be a dogfight over on the left. European giants PSG, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Manchester City and Bayern Munich will all be battling it out to reach the final.