The2025–26 UEFA Champions League league phase began on 16 September 2025 and ended on 28 January 2026. A total of 36 teams competed in the league phase to decide the 24 places in theknockout phase of the2025–26 UEFA Champions League.
Bodø/Glimt,Kairat,Pafos andUnion Saint-Gilloise made their debut appearances in the league phase/group stage, with Kairat, based inAlmaty, becoming the easternmost team to ever qualify for the Champions League since the introduction of the group stage.[1] In addition, Bodø/Glimt, based inBodø within theArctic Circle, became the northernmost European team to ever compete in the Champions League.[2] This marked the first time a Norwegian team participated in the competition proper since the2007–08 season.[3] This was also the first season since2005–06 in which no Ukrainian sides qualified for the group stage/league phase.[4] After being drawn to play away againstSporting CP, Kairat broke the record for the longest trip in UEFA competitions, travelling 4,294 miles (6,911 km) from Almaty toLisbon.[5]
A total of 16 national associations were represented in the league phase.
Each team played eight matches, four at home and four away, against eight different opponents, with all 36 teams ranked in a single league table. Teams were separated into four pots based on their2025 UEFA club coefficients, and each team played two teams from each of the four pots – one at home and one away. The top eight teams in the standings received abye to the round of 16. The teams ranked from 9th to 24th will contest the knockout phase play-offs, with the teams ranked from 9th to 16th seeded for the draw. Teams ranked from 25th to 36th were eliminated from European competition.
Teams were ranked according topoints (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If two or more teams were equal on points upon completion of the league phase, the following tiebreaking criteria were applied, in the order given, to determine their rankings:[6]
While the league phase was in progress, teams were ranked according to criteria 1–5 only, and if still tied, were given equal ranking and sorted alphabetically. Criteria 6–10 were only used after the final matches took place.[7]
Goal difference;
Goals scored;
Away goals scored;
Wins;
Away wins;
Higher number of points obtained collectively by league phase opponents;
Superior collective goal difference of league phase opponents;
Higher number of goals scored collectively by league phase opponents;
Lower disciplinary points total (direct red card or expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point);
The 36 teams were divided into four pots of nine teams each, with the Champions League title holders automatically placed as the top seed of pot 1. All remaining teams were allocated to pots based on their 2025UEFA club coefficients.[8][9] The participants included:
The draw for the league phase pairings was held at theGrimaldi Forum inMonaco on 28 August 2025, 18:00CEST.[10] All 36 teams were manually drawn using physical balls. For every team manually drawn, a guest on stage pressed a button for the automated software to digitally draw their opponents at random, determining which of their matches will be at home and which ones away. Each team will face two opponents from each of the four pots, one of which they will face at home and one away. Teams could not face opponents from their own association, and could only be drawn against a maximum of two sides from the same association. The draw started with Pot 1, assigning opponents to all teams, one after the other, and continued with the other pots in descending order until all teams were assigned their opponents.[11][12]
The fixture list was announced on 30 August 2025, two days after the draw.[14][15][16] This was to ensure no calendar clashes with teams in theEuropa League andConference League playing in the same cities.
In principle, each team did not play more than two home matches or two away matches in a row, and played one home match and one away match across both the first and last two matchdays. The matches were played on 16–18 September (exclusive week),[note 1] 30 September – 1 October, 21–22 October, 4–5 November, 25–26 November, 9–10 December 2025, 20–21 January and 28 January 2026. All matches were played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, except for the competition's exclusive week, which also included Thursday fixtures. The scheduled kick-off times were generally 18:45 (two matches on each day) and 21:00 (remaining matches) CET/CEST. The only exception was the final matchday, where all fixtures were played simultaneously at 21:00.[17][6]
Times areCET orCEST,[note 2] as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).
^As part of the scheduling for the 2025–26 UEFA men's club season, each competition had an "exclusive week" in the calendar, with no other competitions scheduled during this week. For the Champions League, this took place on matchday 1 (16–18 September 2025).
^CEST (UTC+2) for dates up to 25 October 2025 (matchdays 1–3), andCET (UTC+1) for dates thereafter (matchdays 4–8).
^abcdPafos played their home matches at Alphamega Stadium, Limassol, instead of their regular stadium,Stelios Kyriakides Stadium,Paphos, which did not meet UEFA requirements.
^abcdUnion Saint-Gilloise played their home matches at Constant Vanden Stock Stadium, Brussels, instead of their regular stadium,Joseph Marien Stadium, Brussels, which did not meet UEFA requirements.
^abBarcelona played their two first home matches at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, Barcelona, instead of their regular stadium,Camp Nou, Barcelona, which was being renovated.[84][85]
^abKairat played their last two league phase matches atAstana Arena,Astana, instead of their regular stadium,Central Stadium,Almaty, due to extreme winter weather conditions.
Note: In 1991–92, the competition was still known as the European Cup, but is included as it was the first to use a group stage format. In that season and 1992–93, there was no knockout phase between the group stage and final.
Arsenal
Bayern Munich
Barcelona
Sporting CP
Inter Milan
Paris Saint-Germain
Olympiacos
Club Brugge
Galatasaray
Qarabağ
Bodø/Glimt
Pafos
PSV Eindhoven
Copenhagen
Slavia Prague
Kairat