UEFA Champions League 2025/26 Draw: Format, fixtures, pots and final in Budapest

The stage is set for the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League, and football fans around the world are eagerly waiting to find out the fixtures.

On Thursday, August 28, at 6pm CEST, the official draw will take place at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, where FC Barcelona and 35 other clubs will discover their opponents for the league phase.

Second Season of the New Format

This season marks the second year of the revamped Champions League format. Unlike the traditional group stages, all 36 clubs will compete in a single league table.

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Each team will play eight matches four at home and four away against opponents drawn from different seeding pots.

The top eight sides will qualify directly for the Round of 16, while teams ranked 9th to 24th will battle it out in two-legged playoffs to secure the remaining spots.

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Four Pots, Complex Draw

The 36 teams are split into four pots based on UEFA coefficients. Each club will face two opponents from each pot, with fixtures divided evenly between home and away matches. Notably, clubs from the same domestic league cannot meet in the league phase, meaning Barcelona will avoid Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, Villarreal, and Athletic Club.

Pot 1, already confirmed, includes heavyweights such as Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, PSG, Inter Milan, Chelsea, and Borussia Dortmund. The remaining pots will be finalised after the qualifying rounds conclude on August 27.

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Knockout Path to Budapest

Once the league phase ends, the knockout rounds begin:

• Playoff Round: February 17–25, 2026

• Round of 16: March 10–18, 2026

• Quarterfinals: April 7–15, 2026

• Semifinals: April 28–May 6, 2026

• Final: May 30, 2026, at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest, Hungary

This season also brings one key change: seeding in the knockout stages will depend on where clubs finish in the league phase, with higher-ranked teams guaranteed to play the decisive second leg at home.

Football fans can expect high-stakes encounters, dramatic knockout battles, and a grand finale in Budapest as the Champions League’s new era enters its second chapter.