Champions confirm 36 teams for league stage, where to watch the draw | OneFootball

The 2025/26 Champions League already has the 36 clubs that will compete in the league phase. This Wednesday (27), the playoffs determined the final spots, with Benfica, Club Brugge, Copenhagen, and Qarabag securing their place in the competition. Now, all eyes turn to the draw that will organize the matchups for the next stage.

WHERE TO WATCH: The ceremony takes place this Thursday (28), at 1:00 PM (Brasília time), at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, with live broadcast on TNT Sports (cable TV), HBO Max (streaming), UEFA.tv (streaming), and SBT (free-to-air TV).

Among the top seeds, Pot 1 features giants such as PSG, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund, and Barcelona.

Pot 2 includes Arsenal, Bayer Leverkusen, Atlético de Madrid, Benfica, Atalanta, Villarreal, Juventus, Eintracht Frankfurt, and Club Brugge.

Pot 3 has Tottenham, PSV, Ajax, Napoli, Sporting, Olympiacos, Slavia Prague, Bodø/Glimt, and Olympique de Marseille. Finally, Pot 4 completes the list with Copenhagen, Monaco, Galatasaray, Union Saint-Gilloise, Qarabag, Athletic Bilbao, Newcastle, Pafos, and Kairat Almaty.

How does the format work?

This will be the second consecutive edition with the new Champions League format. Unlike the traditional group stage, the 36 teams are now distributed into four pots, and each team will face eight different opponents—two from each pot—in home and away matches, totaling four games at home and four away.

To avoid imbalances, the rules prevent clubs from the same country from facing each other in this phase and also do not allow a team to play against two teams from the same league. The draw is conducted by UEFA software, developed to prevent repetitions and speed up the process.

The qualification system has also changed. The top eight teams advance directly to the round of 16, while teams finishing between ninth and 24th place will play a playoff round, in home and away matches, for a spot in the knockout stage. From 25th place onward, clubs are eliminated. Another detail is that the top four teams in the league phase standings will have the advantage of playing at home in the round of 16, quarterfinals, and semifinals.

The season calendar is already set. The league phase begins on September 16, 2025, and ends on January 28, 2026. The playoff round will be played in February, and the round of 16 will start in March. The quarterfinals are scheduled for April, while the semifinals will take place between the end of April and the beginning of May. The grand final will be held on May 30, 2026, at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest, Hungary.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.