The Champions League is back with six English clubs involved and the league phase format here to stay – here’s everything you need to know…
How does the Champions League ‘league phase’ format work in 2025/26?
This is only the second year under UEFA’s new structure. Gone are the familiar eight groups; instead, 36 clubs now sit in one league table. Each team faces eight different opponents, split evenly between home and away fixtures.
Three points are awarded for a win and one for a draw, but qualification is no longer straightforward. The top 8 teams after Matchday 8 progress directly to the round of 16. Clubs finishing between 9th and 24th must negotiate a two-legged play-off to reach the knockouts. The bottom 12 are eliminated entirely, with no second chance in the Europa League.
Which English clubs have qualified?
England has six representatives this season. Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea and Newcastle United qualified through league finish, Tottenham Hotspur entered as Europa League winners.
Newcastle finished fifth in the Premier League, narrowly edging out Aston Villa on goal difference after a tense final day.
Crucially, England earned an additional Champions League spot through UEFA’s new European Performance Spots system, which is awarded to the top two countries who performed the best in UEFA competitions that season based on a coefficient ranking.
This allowed Newcastle to qualify despite finishing outside the traditional top four, marking a new milestone under the rules.
Who are the Champions League favourites?
Opta’s supercomputer puts the focus firmly on the Premier League. Liverpool are rated the most likely winners with a 20.4 per cent chance, and an impressive 95.3 per cent probability of reaching the round of 16.
Arsenal are given a 14.5 per cent chance of winning and a 93.6 per cent likelihood of progressing to the round of 16 – the second-highest in the competition behind the Reds.
Manchester City, Champions League winners in 2023, are only fifth favourites with 8.6 per cent. Chelsea, meanwhile, sit just behind on 7.3 per cent.
Newcastle are ranked ninth overall at 3.2 per cent, while Spurs, back in the Champions League as Europa League winners, are rated 13th with 1.2 per cent.
The probabilities underline that Liverpool and Arsenal carry the strongest hopes among the Premier League contingent, but with six English clubs involved, the competition could once again be shaped by the depth of English football.
How many points will be enough to reach the round of 16?
Last season showed the value of early momentum. Sixteen points from eight games was almost always enough for a top eight finish, with 15 points usually sufficient.
Ten points – three wins and a draw virtually guaranteed a place in the play-offs, while nine points often proved enough to go through. Anything less than eight points left clubs on the brink of elimination.
When are the 2025/26 Champions League league-stage matches?
Matchday 1: September 16-18, 2025
Matchday 2: September 30 – October 1, 2025
Matchday 3: October 21-22, 2025
Matchday 4: November 4-5, 2025
Matchday 5: November 25-26, 2025
Matchday 6: December 9-10, 2025
Matchday 7: January 20-21, 2026
Matchday 8: January 28, 2026
Tottenham Hotspur’s Djed Spence celebrates with the UEFA Europa League trophy after their 1-0 win over Man Utd in May’s final in Bilbao booked their place in the Champions League
When are the 2025/26 Champions League knockout stages?
Play-off draw: January 30, 2026
Knockout play-offs: February 17-18 and 24-25, 2026
Round of 16: March 10-11 and 17-18, 2026
Quarter-finals: April 7-8 and 14-15, 2026
Semi-finals: April 28-29 and May 5-6, 2026
Final: Saturday, May 30, 2026
Where is the Champions League final being held in 2026?
The 2025/26 Champions League final will take place in Budapest at the Puskas Arena on Saturday May 30.
