When is the Champions League draw? Date, start time, teams qualified and how to watch live

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The Independent

·20 août 2025

When is the Champions League draw? Date, start time, teams qualified and how to watch live

Paris Saint-Germain defend their Champions League title this season with six Premier League teams eyeing glory at next year’s final in Budapest.

Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Fifa Club World Cup champions Chelsea, Newcastle and Europa League champions Tottenham will be in the draw.

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The Gunners reached the semi-finals last term, losing out to PSG 3-1 on aggregate after thrashing both PSV and Real Madrid before their final four exit.

And Luis Enrique’s side went on to thump Inter Milan 5-0 in the final and have since edged past Spurs on penalties in the Uefa Super Cup earlier this month, denying Thomas Frank a trophy in his first game in charge.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Champions League league phase draw:

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

The draw will be held in Monaco on Thursday, 28 August and begins at 6pm BST.

How to watch live Champions League 2025/26 league phase draw

Uefa.com will offer a live stream on their website and YouTube channel.

How does the league phase draw work?

The league phase has 36 teams with every team handed eight games. The 36 teams are split into four pots of eight teams based on their Uefa coefficient, with the opponents generated by automated software.

The opponents then come from each pot, with two teams selected from each, one home and one away.

Teams cannot play another team from the same country and are not permitted to face more than two teams from one country.

Those finishing inside the top eight go straight into the last 16, then the next 16 teams advance to the play-off stage, with eight of those 16 teams progressing to the last 16.