The draw for the 2025/26 Champions League league phase has been made, and all six Premier League clubs have learned their fixtures. The new 36-team format will once again bring big games from September 2025 to January 2026.
Liverpool and Manchester City will both face 15-time winners Real Madrid, while Tottenham and Newcastle must take on defending champions Paris Saint-Germain. Chelsea are set to meet Barcelona and Bayern Munich, while Arsenal will also face Bayern Munich plus Inter Milan.
This season’s final will take place at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary, on May 30, 2026.
Fixtures for Premier League Clubs
Liverpool: Real Madrid (H), Inter Milan (A), Atletico Madrid (H), Eintracht Frankfurt (A), PSV (H), Marseille (A), Qarabag (H), Galatasaray (A).
Manchester City: Borussia Dortmund (H), Real Madrid (A), Bayer Leverkusen (H), Villarreal (A), Napoli (H), Bodo/Glimt (A), Galatasaray (H), Monaco (A).
Chelsea: Barcelona (H), Bayern Munich (A), Benfica (H), Atalanta (A), Ajax (H), Napoli (A), Pafos (H), Qarabag (A).
Arsenal: Bayern Munich (H), Inter Milan (A), Atletico Madrid (A), Club Brugge (H), Olympiacos (A), Slavia Prague (H), Kairat Almaty (A), Athletic Bilbao (H).
Tottenham: Borussia Dortmund (H), PSG (A), Villarreal (H), Eintracht Frankfurt (A), Slavia Prague (H), Bodo/Glimt (A), Copenhagen (H), Monaco (A).
Newcastle: Barcelona (H), PSG (A), Benfica (H), Bayer Leverkusen (A), PSV (H), Marseille (A), Athletic Bilbao (H), Union SG (A).
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Champions League 2025/26 League Format
- Each of the 36 teams plays eight matches – four at home and four away.
- The top 8 teams qualify directly for the round of 16.
- Clubs finishing 9th–24th enter a two-legged knockout play-off.
- Teams finishing 25th or lower are eliminated (no Europa League drop).
This system started in the 2024/25 season, replacing the old group stage.
Champions League 2025/26 Key Dates
League phase:
- Matchday 1: September 16–18, 2025
- Matchday 2: September 30–October 1, 2025
- Matchday 3: October 21–22, 2025
- Matchday 4: November 4–5, 2025
- Matchday 5: November 25–26, 2025
- Matchday 6: December 9–10, 2025
- Matchday 7: January 20–21, 2026
- Matchday 8: January 28, 2026
Knockout rounds:
- Play-off draw: January 30, 2026
- Knockout play-offs: February 17/18 & 24/25
- Round of 16: March 10/11 & 17/18
- Quarter-finals: April 7/8 & 14/15
- Semi-finals: April 28/29 & May 5/6
- Final: May 30, 2026 – Budapest
Who Got the Toughest and Easiest Draw?
- PSV Eindhoven face the hardest path, with games against Liverpool, Bayern, Napoli, Atletico and Leverkusen.
- Liverpool and Man City also have difficult fixtures, both facing Real Madrid plus strong teams like Napoli, Inter and Leverkusen.
- Atalanta are seen as the luckiest, avoiding most of Europe’s biggest names apart from PSG and Chelsea.
- Arsenal and Tottenham got balanced draws, with tough ties against Bayern, Inter and PSG, but also several lower-ranked clubs.
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