The 2025-26 UEFA Champions League draw is formally set.
After spending many a long time leveraging a standard group system, the Champions League not too long ago switched to a brand new “league” format. On this system, the 32 groups of the Champions League will every play eight matches — 4 at house and 4 away — within the opening part of the match. These eight matches shall be balanced on issue, with every crew getting two video games towards “high” opponents, 4 towards “center” opponents and two towards “backside” opponents, no matter their very own standing.
In spite of everything eight video games have completed, the highest eight groups on outcomes will transfer immediately into the knockout part of the match. The subsequent 16 greatest groups will face off towards each other in a two-legged playoff; the winners of those playoffs will be part of the highest eight within the knockout rounds.
The league part draw introduced up many desirable questions and permutations for the 2025-26 match. Listed below are the three key takeaways from the schedule as we put together for the Champions League to start:
Followers will not have to attend for headlining matches; there are a lot within the opening league part
When the Champions League transitioned from a standard group stage format to its present “league part” mannequin final season, the intention was that extra high-profile matches could be accessible earlier within the competitors than ever earlier than. That concept has paid off.
Liverpool is about to host Actual Madrid — now that includes ex-Liverpool legend Trent Alexander-Arnold — within the league part. Tottenham Hotspur will journey to Paris Saint-Germain in a rematch of this yr’s Tremendous Cup last. And Bayern Munich will head again to Arsenal… pitting former Spurs man Harry Kane towards the Gunners as soon as once more.
Far-flung debutants will pressure a number of groups into grueling journey
Champions League journey, constrained as it’s to the European continent, has by no means been that taxing. (It is nothing in comparison with the distances American groups cowl throughout their common seasons.) However this yr’s version of the Champions League options a number of fascinating debutant golf equipment whose areas will stretch the bounds of European journey — and certain exhaust their high-profile opponents.
Norway’s Bodo/Glimt, a fan favourite aspect whose house stadium sits above the Arctic Circle, will welcome Manchester Metropolis, Juventus, Tottenham Hotspur and AS Monaco to its icy turf this winter. (No, its stadium just isn’t coated, and sure, it will likely be a wonderful mess to look at Europe’s greatest try and survive its brutal climate.)
Azerbaijan’s Qarabag will carry Chelsea, Frankfurt, Ajax and Copenhagen to the far western shores of the Caspian Sea. And in a stunning twist that may see the largest journey distances in Champions League historical past, Kazakhstan’s Kairat Almaty will host Actual Madrid, Membership Brugge, Olympiakos and Pafos at its house within the Central Asian Steppe.
Almaty is in far japanese Kazakhstan and shares a longitudinal line with India’s capital, New Delhi. Actual Madrid will cowl practically 8,000 air miles on its round-trip journey there: that is the equal of crossing the continental U.S. 3 times.
There are three USMNT-heavy matchups to sit up for
There are seven Individuals scattered among the many 32 groups of the Champions League this season, and several other of them are set to face off towards each other throughout the opening part of the match.
Followers of the USMNT ought to mark their calendars for these three matches, all of which function American gamers on either side of the sphere: PSV vs. Atletico Madrid (defender Sergiño Dest and striker Ricardo Pepi vs. midfielder Johnny Cardoso), PSV vs. Bayer Leverkusen (Dest and Pepi vs. attacking midfielder Malik Tillman) and Monaco vs. Juventus (striker Folarin Balogun vs. midfielder Weston McKennie).
Marseille’s Tim Weah, the one remaining American within the Champions League, is not going to face off towards any of his countrymen… however he’ll face off towards the likes of Liverpool and Actual Madrid throughout his Champions League journey.
The 2025-26 UEFA Champions League will kick off on Tuesday, Sept. 16.
