UEFA Champions League draw: Date, teams qualified, seeds, rules for Round of 16

The complete field of 16 teams that will advance to the 2021-22 UEFA Champions League knockout rounds has not yet been finalized, but we already have several clubs that have booked their spots.

European giants Liverpool, Ajax, Bayern Munich and Juventus were the first four teams to clinch on Matchday 4 of the group stage, while Manchester United and Chelsea joined them on Matchday 5.

Only the top two teams in each group advance, and there’s incentive to win the group when it comes to the Round of 16 draw on Monday, Dec. 13. The first-place team from each group will be seeded, and their Round of 16 opponent will be drawn from a pot of the second-place finishers.

Champions League Round of 16 qualifiers

When is the Champions League Round of 16 draw?

The Round of 16 draw will be held on Dec. 13 at 6 a.m. ET from the UEFA headquarters in Switzerland. It will be streamed by UEFA.com.

The eight group winners will be seeded for purposes of the draw. They will make up one pot, while the other pot will contain the runners-up from each group.

The two key details to remember for this Round of 16 draw:

1. Teams from the same country cannot be drawn against one another (see table below);
2. The group winners (i.e. seeded teams) will host the second leg of each Round of 16 series. This is perceived to be an advantage because, if an extra-time session or penalty-kick shootout is needed, it would happen on home soil.

Knockout round qualifiers by country

The two legs of the Round of 16 will be spread over eight days between February and March. The second leg of each series will take place three weeks after the first leg.

The eight teams left standing will participate in a quarterfinal draw on March 18, 2022, which will determine the rest of the Champions League bracket through the final in Saint Petersburg on May 28. There are no seedings involved in this draw, and unlike the Round of 16, teams from the same country can be drawn against one another.

Champions League Round of 16 schedule

Round of 16, 1st Legs

Round of 16, 2nd Legs

Who will win the UEFA Champions League 2021-22?

As the tournament progresses, the oddsmakers are constantly adjusting the future prices for each team when it comes to winning the Champions League. Here are the latests odds courtesy of U.S.-based DraftKings (asterisk denotes teams that have already qualified for the Round of 16):

Champions League outright winner odds

UEFA Champions League 2021-2022: Tournament format

The 2021-2022 edition of the UEFA Champions League features a familiar format — and one massive new twist.

As usual, the tournament started out with a group stage (eight groups of four teams each), and only the top two finishers in each group advance to the Round of 16 that kicks off in February 2022. Two-leg, aggregate-goal knockout rounds are played the rest of the way through to the single game final that will be held in Russia on May 28, 2022.

• Group Stage: Sept. 14-15, Sept. 28-29, Oct. 19-20, Nov. 2-3, Nov. 23-24, Dec. 7-8
• Round of 16: Feb. 15-16, March 8-9 / Feb. 22-23, March 15-16
• Quarterfinals: April 5-6, April 12-13
• Semifinals: April 26-27, May 3-4
• Final: May 28, 2022 (St. Petersburg, Russia)

No away goals tiebreaker in Champions League

Here’s that twist: For the first time since 1965, there will be no away goals tiebreaker used in the knockout rounds of UEFA competitions, including the Champions League, after it was abolished in June 2021.

Series that are tied on aggregate goals after the conclusion of the second leg will go straight to extra time and, if necessary, a penalty-kick shootout.

How to watch the UEFA Champions League

The 2021-22 UEFA Champions League will be carried in the United States by CBS (English) and Univision (Spanish) across a number of TV and streaming platforms.

• Dates: 29 matchdays from Sept. 2021-May 2022
• TV Channels: CBS, CBS Sports Network-CBSSN (select matches only)
• Spanish-language TV: Univision, TUDN, UniMas, Galavision, TUDNxtra (TUDNxtra available through select cable, satellite & streaming providers)
• Streaming (English): Paramount+
• Streaming (Spanish): fuboTV, PrendeTV, TUDN.tv, TUDN app (authenticated users)

CBS Sports will have live pregame, halftime and postgame studio shows, which will air on CBS Sports Network and stream on Paramount+. Also back this year is the RedZone-like whip-around show called “The Golazo Show,” also on CBS Sports Network and Paramount+, with all the goals and best chances from the concurrent matches.

Univision will mirror that coverage with its own pregame and postgame shows. Its whip-around show is called “Zona Fútbol.”

Nearly every Champions League match is available to be streamed on fuboTV, which offers a free seven-day trial to new subscribers. The streaming platform carries all the Univision family of channels: Univision, TUDN, UniMas, Galavision and TUDNxtra.

Univision will stream select matches on its ad-supported platform PrendeTV, which is available free of charge across mobile and connected TV devices, Amazon Fire TV, Apple (iOS and tvOS), Google (Android phones and TV devices), Roku, and via the web on Prende.tv.