The 2025/26 UEFA Champions League is now underway and the league phase has already ended. Below you will find everything you need to know about who is still alive in the competition, when the next draw will be and all the key dates of the season.
Champions League draws
The draw for the league phase of the Champions League took place on August 28 in Monaco. The 36 qualified teams were divided into four pots of nine teams each according to their UEFA club coefficient, except for the Champions League winners (PSG), who were automatically placed as first classified in Pot 1.
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The 36 teams were then drawn manually and automated software selected their eight different opponents at random, determining which of their matches are home and which are away.
Each team had two opponents from each of the four Pots, one at home and one away. Teams could not face opponents from their own association and could only face a maximum of two teams from the same association.
The playoff draw was held on January 30. The teams involved in that draw were those that finished the league phase between ninth and 24th place.
The final draw, for the round of 16 and later, will take place on Friday, February 27. The teams that finish in the top eight of the league phase, plus the eight winners of the eliminatory play-offs, will participate in this draw.
The draw will be broadcast live on UEFA.com and the official UEFA Champions League app.
The top eight teams after the league stage were (in order):
1. Arsenal (ESP), 2. Bayern Munich (Germany), 3. Liverpool (ESP), 4. Tottenham hotspur (ESP), 5. Barcelona (ESP), 6. Chelsea (ESP), 7. sports CP (BY), 8. City of Manchester (ESP)
These eight teams advance directly to the round of 16.
The 16 teams competing in the knockout play-offs are (in order of league completion):
9.Real Madrid (ESP), 10. Inter Milan (ITA), 11. Paris Saint Germain (FRA), 12. Newcastle (ESP), 13. Juventus (ITA), 14. Atlético de Madrid (ESP), 15. Atalanta (ITA), 16. Bayer Leverkusen (Germany), 17. Borussia Dortmund (Germany), 18. Olympiacos (GRE), 19. Club Bruges (BEL), 20. Galatasaray (TUR), 21. Monaco (FRA), 22. Qarabag (AZ), 23. Bodo/bright (NEITHER), 24. Benfica (BY)
The knockout play-offs (final total scores are listed where they finished):
Real Madrid (9) vs Benfica (24)
Inter Milan (10) 2-5 Bodo/Glimt (23)
PSG (11) vs Monaco (21)
Newcastle (12) 9-3 Karabag (22)
Juventus (13) vs Galatasaray (20)
Atlético de Madrid (14) 7-4 Club Bruges (19)
Atalanta (15) vs Borussia Dortmund (17)
Bayer Leverkusen (16) 2-0 Olympiacos (18)
The 12 teams eliminated after the league phase (in alphabetical order) were:
Ajax (NED), Athletic Club (ESP), Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany), FC Copenhagen (DEN), Kairat Almaty (KAZ), Marseilles (FRA), Naples (ITA), Paphos (CIP), PSV-Eindhoven (NED), Royale Union Saint-Gilloise (BEL), Slavia Prague (CHE), Villarreal (ESP)
See the final table and follow the Champions League here!
Upcoming key dates of the UEFA Champions League 25/26
First day of the League Phase: September 16-18, 2025
League phase last day: January 28, 2026
Elimination Playoff Draw: January 30
Elimination rounds: February 17 and 18 (first leg), February 24 and 25 (second leg)
Final draw (from the round of 16): February 27, 2026
Round of 16: March 10 and 11 (first leg), March 17 and 18 (return leg)
Quarter finals: April 7 and 8 (first leg), April 14 and 15 (return leg)
Semifinals: April 28 and 29 (first leg), May 5 and 6 (return leg)
End: May 30
When and where is the final of the Champions League 25/26
The Champions League final will take place on May 30, 2026 at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary. The stadium has capacity for 67,215 people. It is the first time that the final will be held in Hungary.
UEFA Champions League format explained
Ahead of last season’s competition, there was a major revamp of UEFA’s premier competition and indeed all of Europe’s continental cups. Gone are the days of the 32-team group stage with brackets – a 36-team league stage has replaced that format.
This season, like the previous one, each of the 36 teams plays eight games. The top eight at the end of the league phase automatically qualify for the round of 16, while the bottom eight are eliminated and are not relegated to the Europa League.
Meanwhile, the teams that finished between ninth and 24th place advance to the knockout round to decide which eight more will complete the round of 16. The final draw for the knockout stages takes place after the knockout round.
In the round of 16, the eight best teams (seeded) will face the other teams (non-seeded). The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final continue as in typical cup competitions.
