Newcastle face Qarabag & Real meet Benfica in play-offs

Newcastle face Qarabag & Real meet Benfica in play-offs

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Benfica will face Real Madrid in the Champions League play-offs just three weeks after their dramatic league phase encounter.

On Wednesday, goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin’s 98th-minute goal earned Jose Mourinho’s side a 4-2 win against the Spanish giants.

Newcastle will play Qarabag after finishing the league phase in 12th place, while defending champions Paris St-Germain, who finished 11th, will face Ligue 1 rivals Monaco.

The two-legged play-offs are for teams who finished between 9th and 24th in the league phase and the first games will take place on 17-18 February, with the second round one week later.

Qarabag finished 22nd in the league phase after winning three, drawing one and losing four of their matches.

They were defeated 6-0 against Liverpool at Anfield in their final outing and have not beaten a Premier League team in nine previous attempts.

The Azerbaijan champions avoided defeat for the first time against an English club when drawing 2-2 with Chelsea in November.

Champions League play-offs draw in full

Bodo/Glimt v Inter Milan

Benfica v Real Madrid

Monaco v Paris St-Germain

Qarabag v Newcastle

Galatasaray v Juventus

Club Brugge v Atletico Madrid

Borussia Dortmund v Atalanta

    • 16 August 2025

Watch highlights of every Champions League game from 22:00 on Wednesday on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.

Related topics

  • Paris St-Germain
  • Real Madrid
  • UEFA Champions League
  • Newcastle United
  • Football
Source: BBC
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