Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham set for huge payday as Champions League draw emerges

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Need to know

The Champions League round-of-16 draw will soon take centre stage with all three London clubs already earning millions for just participating

The Champions League draw will take place on Friday(Image: Harold CUNNINGHAM / AFP via Getty Images)

Everything you need to know about the latest Champions League draw

1. Who is involved?: Arsenal led the pack in the Champions League table and automatically qualified. Tottenham and Chelsea also both went straight through to the draw, finishing fourth and sixth respectively.
2. How much will each team earn?: For the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League season, the financial rewards for reaching the round of 16 are significant. Each club that has qualified for this stage receives a fixed performance bonus of £9.5million (€11m).
3. Arsenal's potential opponents: The Gunners finished first in the Champions League table and will be heading for either Italy or Germany. They will face either Atalanta or Bayer Leverkusen.
4. Chelsea's potential opponents: The Blues face a tougher battle ahead. They could head north to face fellow Premier League side Newcastle, or travel to France to try where current holders Paris Saint-Germain await.
5. Tottenham's potential opponents: Spurs may be performing well in Europe, but they have two formidable opponents that they could potentially face. Atletico Madrid or Galatasaray await them in the round of 16.
6. How does the Champions League draw work?: The Champions League draw has moved away from the traditional "random pots" style to a bracket-based system, similar to a tennis tournament. This ensures that the teams that performed best in the league phase are rewarded with a more favourable path and cannot face each other until the very end, although that doesn't always turn out to be the case.
7. Key rule changes: In the knockout stages, teams from the same league can now play each other. You could see an all-Premier League or all-La Liga clash as early as the round of 16.
8. Seeded teams' advantage: Those who have finished in the top eight of the Champions League table will have an advantage over their rivals. They are guaranteed to play the second leg at home.
9. READ MORE ABOUT THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DRAW HERE: Champions League draw declared void after technical error impacted Premier League sides