Champions League 2025/26: When is the league phase draw?

The 2025/26 Champions League is fast approaching, with teams set to find out who they will face in the league phase in the upcoming draw.

Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea, Newcastle and Tottenham are the Premier League's representatives in this season's edition as they prepare to take on some of Europe's biggest clubs and players.

Here is all you need to know about the Champions League league phase draw.

The draw for the league phase of the Champions League takes place on Thursday, August 28, with the ceremony starting at 6pm UK time.

UEFA will stream the draw on their official website and on YouTube, while UK residents can also tune in on TNT Sports.

Last season saw a new format used in Europe's elite competition, with the tournament expanding from 32 teams to 36.

They now compete in a league-style system, where each side plays eight games - four home and four away - against two teams each from Pots 1, 2, 3, and 4.

The Pots are determined by the club's coefficient ranking, based on previous success in Europe.

The teams who finish in spots 1-8 in the final league table qualify automatically for the last 16 of the competition, with places 9-24 going into a play-off round to join them.

Sides who finish in places 25-36 are knocked out of the competition altogether.

With four spots still to be decided in the qualifying rounds, 32 teams are already confirmed. Paris Saint-Germain, who are the current favourites, and Tottenham gained their places by virtue of winning the Champions League and the Europa League respectively.

Though this could still change depending on which teams win in qualifying, the projected Pots are as follows:

• Pot 1: PSG, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona

• Pot 2: Arsenal, Bayer Leverkusen, Atletico Madrid, Atalanta, Villarreal, Juventus, Eintracht Frankfurt, Tottenham

• Pot 3: PSV, Ajax, Napoli, Sporting Lisbon, Olympiacos, Slavia Prague, Bodo/Glimt, Marseille

• Pot 4: Monaco, Galatasaray, Union Saint-Gilloise, Athletic Bilbao, Newcastle, Pafos, Kairat

Starting with Pot 1, each team will be drawn out individually. They will then be selected eight opponents via UEFA's automated software.

No league phase fixtures can be played against teams from the same country, with teams also playing no more than two matches against teams from the another country.

This procedure will continue until the fixtures for all 36 teams have been decided.

• 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

• League phase: September 16, 2025 - January 28, 2026

• Knockout play-offs: February 17/18 & 24/25, 2026

• Round of 16: March 10/11 & 17/18, 2026

• Quarter-finals: April 7/8 & 14/15, 2026

• Semi-finals: April 28/29 & May 5/6, 2026

• Final: May 30, 2026

For more Champions League content, you can check out the latest Champions League outright winner odds, with holders PSG tipped by the bookies to defend their crown.

You can also head to our dedicated Champions League section for all the latest on the competition throughout the season.

View the latest football odds.

All odds and markets are correct as of the date of publication.