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The 2025/26 UEFA Champions League calendar is about, with qualifying on account of begin in July and the ultimate once more going down in late Could. The street to Budapest will observe the identical format as final season’s revamped competitors, with 36 groups competing in an preliminary league part.
29 groups secured direct entry into the league by advantage of their performances final season. That features 5 Spanish golf equipment with Actual Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Athletic Membership and Villarreal representing LaLiga within the 2025/26 competitors.
They’ll face robust competitors from a report six English golf equipment, in addition to the likes of defending champions PSG, Inter Milan and Bayern Munich.
2025/26 UEFA Champions League dates
eighth July 2025 – Champions League qualifying begins
Champions League qualifying begins earlier than the tip of the Membership World Cup and earlier than many elite groups have even began their pre-season preparations. The champions from 28 of Europe’s lesser leagues will participate within the first qualifying spherical which kicks off on Tuesday eighth July, earlier than concluding with the second legs the next week.
The winners of these ties might want to make it by means of two extra rounds, simply to make the play-off spherical in August.
Nineteenth-Twenty seventh August 2025 – Play-off spherical
There’ll be seven massive two-legged UCL fixtures in August which can decide the ultimate seven locations within the league part. 5 of these locations will go to home champions from the 2024/25 season, with Celtic, Bodo/Glimt, Basel and Sturm Graz among the many groups who will function within the “champions path” at this stage, together with six different golf equipment who progress by means of the earlier qualifying rounds.
The opposite two locations will go to those that progress by means of the “league path” of qualifying which options golf equipment in a number of the different stronger leagues that didn’t win their home titles. The likes of Good, Benfica, Membership Brugge, Feyenoord, Rangers, RB Salzburg and Fenerbahce might be hoping to advance on this part.
twenty eighth August 2025 – League part attract Monaco
The day after the conclusion of the play-offs, representatives from all of the golf equipment will collect on the Grimaldi Discussion board in Monaco for the league part draw. As was the case final 12 months, this can function using a pc moderately than the outdated methodology of groups being drawn from a hat or bowl.
All 36 groups might be given eight completely different opponents, with 4 residence fixtures and 4 away video games. The groups might be divided into 4 pots for the draw they usually’ll face two golf equipment from every pot, together with the one they’re in.
There’s due to this fact little benefit or drawback to being positioned in the next or decrease pot, however we do already know which of them the 5 Spanish golf equipment will go into. By advantage of their excessive UEFA coefficients, Actual Madrid and Barcelona will go in pot one, whereas Atletico Madrid and Villarrreal might be in pot two. Athletic Membership are in pot 4 on their return to Europe’s elite-level competitors.
Sixteenth-18th September 2025 – League part begins
The league part will kick off the next month, with the primary matchday staggered over three days between Tuesday Sixteenth and Thursday 18th September.
Golf equipment will play six matches in whole earlier than the tip of the 12 months, however there’s now solely a quick pause earlier than the Champions League returns within the new 12 months, with the league part that includes eight fixtures versus the six for every group within the outdated group format.
After the opening matchday, all fixtures will happen on both Tuesday or Wednesday nights. Most video games are anticipated to kick off at 21:00 CET (20:00 within the UK, Eire and Portugal), though some matches will begin earlier, almost certainly at 18:45 CET.
| Matchday | Date(s) |
| 1 | Sixteenth-18th September 2025 |
| 2 | thirtieth September – 1st October 2025 |
| 3 | Twenty first-Twenty second October 2025 |
| 4 | 4th-Fifth November 2025 |
| 5 | Twenty fifth-Twenty sixth November 2025 |
| 6 | Ninth-Tenth December 2025 |
| 7 | Twentieth-Twenty first January 2026 |
| 8 | twenty eighth January 2026 |
The Europa League calendar follows an identical construction, though with matches on Thursday nights, whereas the league part of the 2025/26 Convention League kicks off barely later and solely options six matchdays.
twenty eighth January 2026 – League part ultimate matchday
The ultimate matchday is exclusive in that every one 18 fixtures happen on the identical time, anticipated to be 21:00 CET on Wednesday twenty eighth January 2026. That is crunch-time for the golf equipment concerned as their ultimate place within the league part could have a big effect on what comes subsequent.
All golf equipment might be concentrating on the highest eight which implies direct passage into the round-of-16 and a house second leg, with the golf equipment that end within the highest positions in concept getting a extra beneficial draw, though it doesn’t essentially work out that manner – final season’s league part winners Liverpool have been drawn in opposition to eventual champions PSG within the round-of-16!
The groups that end between Ninth and twenty fourth within the league part will go into the play-off spherical, whereas the underside 12 groups might be eradicated from Europe altogether.
thirtieth January 2026 – Knockout part play-offs draw
Two days on from the league part, we’ll get the draw for the knockout part play-offs that includes 16 UEFA Champions League groups. These sides will already know which two groups they might be paired with in line with the predetermined bracket (for instance the groups that end in Ninth and Tenth within the league will face the groups that end twenty third and twenty fourth within the knockout part play-offs).
A draw takes place to finalise that, and the golf equipment that end larger within the league part could have residence benefit within the second leg.
Seventeenth-Twenty fifth February 2026 – Knockout part play-offs
The knockout part play-offs will happen throughout two legs in February. There is no such thing as a nation safety any extra within the Champions League knockout rounds, so it’s potential we might have two groups from the identical nation meet at this level.
The potential for a heavyweight conflict additionally stays, with Actual Madrid taking up Manchester Metropolis at this level final season. The newly-appointed Xabi Alonso might be hoping that Actual Madrid’s Champions League schedule doesn’t embody a play-off in February this season although.
Twenty seventh February 2026 – Knockout part draw
We’ll have 16 groups left after the play-off spherical, they usually’ll go into the Champions League draw on Friday Twenty seventh February which can decide not solely the round-of-16 fixtures, however all the bracket for the rest of the competitors.
Once more, golf equipment will already know who the 2 groups that they may face within the subsequent spherical earlier than the draw, however they’ll be capable of plot their potential UCL schedule for the rest of the season after it has taken place.
Tenth-18th March 2026 – Spherical-of-16
From this level on, UEFA Champions League fixtures will observe a extra acquainted path because the competitors follows the identical construction because it has achieved for a few years, with groups needing to win three two-legged knockout ties so as to attain the ultimate.
Barcelona’s Champions League schedule noticed them paired with Benfica at this stage final season, whereas we had a Madrid derby between Atleti and Actual which went to penalties.
Villarreal and Athletic Membership may also be hoping to nonetheless be within the competitors at this part, with Los Leones hoping to make the knockout stage for the primary time within the Champions League period.
Seventh-Fifteenth April 2026 – Quarter-finals
There are some key Champions League dates in April, with each legs of the quarter-finals and the primary legs of the semi-finals going down this month. There might be no extra draw earlier than this stage given the predetermined nature of the bracket, so groups will instantly know their opponents following the conclusion of the earlier spherical.
The knockout part attract late February may also kind out which groups play at residence first and second at this stage.
twenty eighth April – sixth Could 2026 – Semi-finals
The 2025/26 males’s Champions League schedule sees the 2 legs of the semi-finals happen in successive weeks as we get nearer to realizing the id of the European champions for the 2025/26 season.
Barcelona met Inter Milan in an all-time basic semi final season, and Hansi Flick’s facet might be among the many favourites to be concerned within the final 4 once more this time period. Villarreal have been additionally semi-finalists the final time they performed within the Champions League within the 2021/22 season, whereas Atletico final made the final 4 in 2016/17.
thirtieth Could 2026 – Champions League ultimate in Budapest
The 2025/26 Champions League season concludes in Budapest on the 67,000-capacity Puskas Area on Saturday thirtieth Could 2026.
PSG hammered Inter 5-0 in essentially the most one-sided ultimate in European Cup historical past final season, and the Parisians might be hoping that their first title opens the floodgates when it comes to extra European success.
Liverpool, Arsenal and Man Metropolis will lead a really robust Premier League problem within the 2025/26 Champions League although, and with 31% of golf equipment within the league part coming from England or Spain, there are lots of groups who harbour practical hopes of constructing all of it the best way to Budapest for the most important recreation on the European soccer calendar.
Tickets for the large recreation might be offered by way of UEFA or by means of the 2 finalists, though membership allocations are usually comparatively low. Additionally, you will me capable of purchase resale 2026 Champions League ultimate tickets on Hellotickets, though any purchases by way of third-party websites are made at your personal danger.
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