The draw for the 2025–26 UEFA Champions League league phase will take place on Thursday, 28 August, in Monaco, with the first round of fixtures scheduled between 16 and 18 September.
The UEFA’s bold Swiss-style league format is set for its second year new debutants, a revamped draw system, and heavyweight clashes on the horizon.
The highly anticipated ceremony, which starts at 17:00 BST, will confirm the matchups for all 36 clubs in the revamped league-format competition.
Champions League Draw Format
This year’s competition follows the same structure introduced in the 2024–25 season, replacing the traditional group stage with a single 36-team league table.
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Teams Involved:
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27 teams qualified via domestic league positions
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Last season’s Champions League and Europa League winners
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7 teams that advanced through the qualifying play-offs
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Draw Mechanics:
Teams will be split into four seeding pots based on UEFA club coefficient rankings. The automated system will assign each team eight opponents, two from each pot, one home and one away.
The full fixture schedule, including dates and kick-off times, will be published by Saturday, 30 August.
The Four Pots for the Champions League Draw
Pot 1:
- Chelsea
- Liverpool
- Manchester City
- Paris Saint-Germain
- Real Madrid
- Bayern Munich
- Inter Milan
- Borussia Dortmund
- Barcelona
Pot 2:
- Arsenal
- Bayer Leverkusen
- Atletico Madrid
- Atalanta
- Villarreal
- Juventus
- Eintracht Frankfurt
- Benfica
- Club Brugge
Pot 3:
- Tottenham Hotspur
- Ajax
- Napoli
- PSV Eindhoven
- Sporting Lisbon
- Olympiakos
- Slavia Prague
- Marseille
- Bodo/Glimt
Pot 4:
- Newcastle United
- Pafos
- Athletic Club
- Galatasaray
- Union Saint-Gilloise
- Kairat Almaty
- Monaco
- Kobenhavn
- Qarabag
History Makers: Kairat, Pafos & Bodo/Glimt Break New Ground
The play-off round produced some of the most historic nights in Champions League history, with three debutants joining the elite competition.
Founded just 11 years ago, Pafos secured a 3-2 aggregate win over Red Star Belgrade, with Brazilian winger Jaja scoring an match winning 89th-minute equaliser in Limassol.
The Cypriots become only the third club from their nation to reach the Champions League, joining APOEL and Anorthosis Famagusta.
The Arctic Circle club reached the group stage for the first time after edging Austrian champions Sturm Graz 6-2 on aggregate, despite a 2-1 defeat in the second leg.
The Norwegian champions, who reached last season’s Europa League semi-finals, are the first club from Norway to appear in the competition since Rosenborg (2007–08).
Kairat stunned Scottish champions Celtic in a penalty shootout after two goalless legs, making them the second Kazakh team in Champions League history after Astana.
Union Saint-Gilloise of Belgium will also make their debut appearance in the competition.
Celtic’s Painful Exit in Kazakhstan
Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic crashed out in an unexpected way, losing 3-2 on penalties to Kairat Almaty after a frustrating 210 minutes of goalless football.
Adam Idah missed Celtic’s opening penalty before Temirlan Anarbekov denied Luke McCowan and Daizen Maeda to seal a historic night for the Kazakh champions.
Rodgers reflected:
“This group of players have given everything. We just couldn’t find enough good moments and moments of quality to break through.”
“All we can do now is look at where we’re at as a football club and decide where we want to go.”
Financial Fallout for Eliminated Teams
Qualification for the Champions League would have secured €18m (£15.5m) in prize money, compared to €4m (£3.46m) for the Europa League.
Each Champions League win is worth €2m (£1.73m), while a Europa League victory nets just €450k (£388k).
Europa & Conference League Draw Details
