Champions League 2025-26 Fixtures for League Phase Confirmed

The league phase draw for the 2025/26 Champions League is now complete, with Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea, Newcastle, and Tottenham discovering their opponents for the initial stage of Europe’s premier competition. This year’s edition will be the second since the tournament’s revamp, featuring 36 teams battling it out to prove they are the best on the continent.

The top eight teams from the league phase will advance directly to the last 16. Teams finishing between ninth and 24th will enter a two-legged play-off round, with the winners securing a place in the last 16. Teams finishing 25th or lower will be eliminated outright and will not drop down to the Europa League, a change that adds extra pressure in the opening stage.

Liverpool, Arsenal, Man City, Chelsea, Newcastle, and Tottenham’s Opponents Revealed

The first match of the league phase will take place between September 16-18, with five more rounds of games taking place in 2025. These will be held on September 30-October 1, October 21-22, November 4-5, November 25-26, and December 9-10. The final two league phase games will happen in January.

From then onwards, the road to Budapest – to play in the final at the Puskas Arena on May 30, 2026 – truly begins. At the start of the initial draw, however, there was plenty of time to reflect as well as look forward to what’s to come, with Chelsea being rewarded a special award for becoming the first club to win all six of UEFA’s competitions following their Europa Conference League and Club World Cup in a matter of just a few short months over the summer. See Below:

After proving they could be dark horses in this year’s Champions League, Enzo Maresca and co. will be able to prove that further after they drew Spanish champions Barcelona and German champions Bayern Munich in their first two ties, as well as Italian champions Napoli later into their league phase.

Both Manchester City and Liverpool will meet familiar foes Real Madrid, who they have faced multiple times over the last few years, with the latter having lost two finals to the Spanish giants under former manager Jurgen Klopp. It means Trent Alexander-Arnold will return to Anfield for the first time since leaving his boyhood club.

Trent Alexander-Arnold

The Reds will also face a gruelling trip to the iconic San Siro to take on last season’s finalists Inter Milan, while a homecoming is on the cards for Hugo Ekitike as they must go to Eintracht Frankfurt. Arsenal, meanwhile, who are among the biggest clubs to have never won the Champions League, have been drawn against first-timers Kairat Almaty, as well as tougher games against Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid at home.

Newcastle are in Europe’s first-rate competition for only the second time, and while they are still grappling with the relentless transfer market to try to find a new striker, they may feel a little nervous about clashes with Barcelona and PSG. Tottenham, who qualified thanks to their unexpected Europa League win under sacked manager Ange Postecoglou last term, must face winners PSG, who they already lost to in the Super Cup final.

They will also be revisiting the Arctic Circle to take on Bodo/Glimt, who they played in last year’s Europa League semi-final. See every Premier League team’s opponents below:

Liverpool, Arsenal, Man City, Chelsea, Newcastle, and Tottenham’s Champions League opponents

Premier League club

Opponents

Liverpool

Real Madrid (H), Inter Milan (A), Atletico Madrid (H), Eintracht Frankfurt (A), PSV (H), Marseille (A), Qarabag (H), Galatasaray (A)

Arsenal

Bayern Munich (H), Inter Milan (A), Atletico Madrid (H), Club Brugge (A), Olympiacos (H), Slavia Praha (A), Kairat Almaty (H), Athletic Club (A)

Manchester City

Borussia Dortmund (H), Real Madrid (A), Bayer Leverkusen (H), Villareal (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)

Newcastle

Barcelona (H), Paris Saint-Germain (A), Benfica (H), Bayer Leverkusen (A), PSV (H), Marseille (A), Union Saint-Gilloise (A), Athletic Club (H)

Tottenham

Borussia Dortmund (H), Paris Saint-Germain (A), Villareal (H), Eintracht Frankfurt (A), Slavia Praha (H), Bodo/Glimt (A), Copenhagen (H), Monaco (A)

Other Key Fixtures

paris saint-germain champions le

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See the full list of matches below: