Champions League 2025/26 league phase draw LIVE: All the fixtures as it happened

We're all set for the Champions League draw at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. Here are the pots:

Pot 1

• Paris Saint-Germain (France)
• Real Madrid (Spain)
• Manchester City (England)
• Bayern Munich (Germany)
• Liverpool (England)
• Inter Milan (Italy)
• Chelsea (England)
• Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
• Barcelona (Spain)

Pot 2

• Arsenal (England)
• Bayer Leverkusen (Germany)
• Atletico Madrid (Spain)
• Benfica (Portugal)
• Atalanta (Italy)
• Villarreal (Spain)
• Juventus (Italy)
• Eintracht Frankfurt (Germany)
• Club Brugge (Belgium)

Pot 3

• Tottenham Hotspur (England)
• PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands)
• Ajax (Netherlands)
• Napoli (Italy)
• Sporting CP (Portugal)
• Olympiacos (Greece)
• Slavia Prague (Czech Republic)
• Bodo/Glimt (Norway)
• Marseille (France)

Pot 4

• Copenhagen (Denmark)
• Monaco (France)
• Galatasaray (Turkey)
• Union Saint-Gilloise (Belgium)
• Qarabag (Azerbaijan)
• Athletic Bilbao (Spain)
• Newcastle United (England)
• Pafos (Cyprus)
• Kairat (Kazakhstan)

Naturally, all the focus this season is on PSG – and we caught up with the main man himself, Ousmane Dembele

The Ballon d'Or favourite is the cover star for this issue's FourFourTwo magazine – here's where to get it…

And we're about to begin… get ready folks

You can watch the Champions League on YouTube now!

Here's how and where to watch the Champions League in case you need reminding…

Where to watch the Champions League in the UK
TNT Sports and its streaming platform Discovery+ (£30.99/month) still hold the lion's share of Champions League rights – 187 of the 204 games, to be precise. The other 17 (one per match week) are on Amazon Prime Video (£5.99/month). For the second season in a row the BBC are providing a free Champions League highlights show.

Where to watch the Champions League in the US
CBS is the exclusive Champions League broadcaster in the US, with coverage on the CBS Sports Network and CBS Golazo cable channels, as well as the Paramount+ streaming platform ($7.99/month), which has a feed for every single game. CBS' coverage – which features Jamie Carragher, Thierry Henry, Micah Richards, and host Kate Scott – has been described as "a breath of fresh air" by FourFourTwo deputy editor Matthew Ketchell.

Can you watch the Champions League for free?
You can for certain games in certain countries. In Ireland, two free-to-air broadcasters have Champions League rights. RTÉ shows one match per week on RTÉ 2 and the RTÉ Player, while Virgin Media has eight games and puts half of them out for free on Virgin Media Two and Virgin Media Play. Select games are also shown for free in Belgium (VTM Go) and Turkey (TRT).

Watch the Champions League from anywhere
A good VPN will ensure you can access your usual Champions League streams wherever you are in the world, disguising your device's location and tightening your internet security at the same time. NordVPN is the best, say our friends at TechRadar, and you can get 70% off right now.

We begin by celebrating Chelsea

The Blues are getting an award for being the first club to win all UEFA competitions.

For the first time ever, Champions League football comes to Kazakhstan

So naturally, FourFourTwo went along to the competition's easternmost fixture…

While we watch a VT starring Zlatan Ibrahimovic, why not play a quiz about players who actually won the Champions League? Just tell us every British player to have played in the final…

We all know the club that no one wants to face, don't we?

In the words of the late, great David Bowie, the stars are out tonight

We're now welcoming Kaka to the stage to assist with the draw

Who will do best of the English sides this season?

We're nearly ready to begin.

Giorgio Marchetti now comes to the stage to explain what's going to happen.

So here's how it works.

Each team will play eight matches against eight different opponents, with four matches at home and four away. This replaces the old format where teams played three opponents home and away for a total of six games. Now we have 36 teams – who are divided into four pots based on their UEFA club coefficient ranking, with Pot 1 also including the defending champion.

During the draw, a computer program determines each team's eight opponents. Each team will be assigned two opponents from each of the four pots, with one match at home and one away for each pot. There are a couple of key rules for the draw: teams from the same country cannot be drawn against each other, and a team can be drawn against a maximum of two clubs from the same national association.

After the league phase is complete, the knockout stage begins. The top eight teams in the final league table automatically qualify for the round of 16. Teams that finish from 9th to 24th place will enter a two-legged knockout play-off to determine the other eight teams for the round of 16.

Any team that finishes 25th or lower is completely eliminated from all European competitions for the season – and no, they don't drop down to the Europa League.

Once the round of 16 is set, the entire knockout bracket is pre-determined. This means there's no further draw for the quarter-finals and semi-finals. The top eight teams from the league phase are seeded and will face the winners of the play-off matches. The bracket is structured so that the top two teams from the league phase cannot meet each other until the final.

No, YOU'RE still thinking about how Chelsea's fancy award looks like the Intertoto Cup ‘certificate’

Image credit: Getty Images

Image credit: STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images

Aaaaaand we start at the very beginning, with Pot 1.

A very good place to start.

Zlatan draws the first ball. Here we go.

Bayern Munich are first out.

Bayern Munich

Chelsea (H)
Paris Saint-Germain (A)
Club Brugge (H)
Arsenal (A)
Sporting (H)
PSV (A)
Union Saint-Gilloise (H)
Pafos (A)

Chelsea

Barcelona (H)
Bayern (A)
Benfica (H)
Atalanta (A)
Ajax (H)
Napoli (A)
Pafos (H)
Qarabag (A)

Real Madrid

Manchester City (H)
Liverpool (A)
Juventus (H)
Benfica (A)
Marseille (H)
Olympiacos (A)
Monaco (H)
Kairat (A)

Inter Milan

Liverpool (H)
Borussia Dortmund (A)
Arsenal (H)
Atletico Madrid (A)
Slavia Prague (H)
Ajax (A)
Kairat (H)
Union Saint-Gilloise (A)

Borussia Dortmund

Inter (H)
Manchester City (A)
Villarreal (H)
Juventus (A)
Bodø/Glimt (H)
Tottenham Hotspur (A)
Athletic Bilbao (H)
Copenhagen (A)

Barcelona

Paris Saint-Germain (H)
Chelsea (A)
Eintracht Frankfurt (H)
Club Brugge (A)
Olympiacos (H)
Slavia Prague (A)
Copenhagen (H)
Newcastle United (A)

Paris Saint-Germain

Bayern Munich (H)
Barcelona (A)
Atalanta (H)
Bayer Leverkusen (A)
Tottenham Hotspur (H)
Sporting CP (A)
Newcastle United (H)
Athletic Bilbao (A)

Manchester City

Borussia Dortmund (H)
Real Madrid (A)
Bayer Leverkusen (H)
Villarreal (A)
Napoli (H)
Bodø/Glimt (A)
Galatasaray (H)
Monaco (A)

Bayer Leverkusen

Paris Saint-Germain (H)
Manchester City (A)
Villarreal (H)
Benfica (A)
PSV Eindhoven (H)
Olympiacos (A)
Newcastle United (H)
Copenhagen (A)

Arsenal

Bayern Munich (H)
Inter Milan (A)
Atlético Madrid (H)
Club Brugge (A)
Olympiacos (H)
Slavia Prague (A)
Kairat (H)
Athletic Club (A)

Atalanta

Chelsea (H)
Paris Saint-Germain (A)
Club Brugge (H)
Eintracht Frankfurt (A)
Slavia Prague (H)
Marseille (A)
Athletic Club (H)
Union Saint-Gilloise (A)

Benfica

Real Madrid (H)
Chelsea (A)
Bayer Leverkusen (H)
Juventus (A)
Napoli (H)
Ajax (A)
Qarabağ (H)
Newcastle United (A)

Club Brugge

Barcelona (H)
Bayern Munich (A)
Arsenal (H)
Atalanta (A)
Marseille (H)
Sporting CP (A)
Monaco (H)
Kairat (A)

Eintracht Frankfurt

Liverpool (H)
Barcelona (A)
Atalanta (H)
Atlético Madrid (A)
Tottenham Hotspur (H)
Napoli (A)
Galatasaray (H)
Qarabağ (A)

Juventus

Borussia Dortmund (H)
Real Madrid (A)
Benfica (H)
Villarreal (A)
Sporting CP (H)
Bodø/Glimt (A)
Pafos (H)
Monaco (A)

Villarreal

Manchester City (H)
Borussia Dortmund (A)
Juventus (H)
Bayer Leverkusen (A)
Ajax (H)
Tottenham Hotspur (A)
Copenhagen (H)
Pafos (A)

Marseille

Liverpool (H)
Real Madrid (A)
Atalanta (H)
Club Brugge (A)
Ajax (H)
Sporting CP (A)
Newcastle United (H)
Union Saint-Gilloise (A)

Tottenham Hotspur

Borussia Dortmund (H)
Paris Saint-Germain (A)
Villarreal (H)
Eintracht Frankfurt (A)
Slavia Prague (H)
Bodø/Glimt (A)
Copenhagen (H)
Monaco (A)

Bodo/Glimt

Manchester City (H)
Borussia Dortmund (A)
Juventus (H)
Atlético Madrid (A)
Tottenham Hotspur (H)
Slavia Prague (A)
Monaco (H)
Galatasaray (A)

Sporting

Paris Saint-Germain (H)
Bayern Munich (A)
Club Brugge (H)
Juventus (A)
Marseille (H)
Napoli (A)
Kairat (H)
Athletic Bilbao (A)

Olympiacos

Real Madrid (H)
Barcelona (A)
Bayer Leverkusen (H)
Arsenal (A)
PSV Eindhoven (H)
Ajax (A)
Pafos (H)
Kairat (A)

Ajax

Inter (H)
Chelsea (A)
Benfica (H)
Villarreal (A)
Olympiacos (H)
Marseille (A)
Galatasaray (H)
Qarabağ (A)

Slavia Prague

Barcelona (H)
Inter Milan (A)
Arsenal (H)
Atalanta (A)
Bodø/Glimt (H)
Tottenham Hotspur (A)
Athletic Bilbao (H)
Pafos (A)

PSV

Bayern Munich (H)
Liverpool (A)
Atlético Madrid (H)
Bayer Leverkusen (A)
Napoli (H)
Olympiacos (A)
Union Saint-Gilloise (H)
Newcastle United (A)

Napoli

Chelsea (H)
Manchester City (A)
Eintracht Frankfurt (H)
Benfica (A)
Sporting CP (H)
PSV Eindhoven (A)
Qarabağ (H)
Copenhagen (A)

Athletic Club

Paris Saint-Germain (H)
Borussia Dortmund (A)
Arsenal (H)
Atalanta (A)
Sporting CP (H)
Slavia Prague (A)
Qarabağ (H)
Newcastle United (A)

Qarabag

Chelsea (H)
Liverpool (A)
Eintracht Frankfurt (H)
Benfica (A)
Ajax (H)
Napoli (A)
Copenhagen (H)
Athletic Bilbao (A)

Monaco

Manchester City (H)
Real Madrid (A)
Juventus (H)
Club Brugge (A)
Tottenham Hotspur (H)
Bodø/Glimt (A)
Galatasaray (H)
Pafos (A)

Galatasaray

Liverpool (H)
Manchester City (A)
Atlético Madrid (H)
Eintracht Frankfurt (A)
Bodø/Glimt (H)
Ajax (A)
Union Saint-Gilloise (H)
Monaco (A)

Newcastle United

Barcelona (H)
Paris Saint-Germain (A)
Benfica (H)
Bayer Leverkusen (A)
PSV Eindhoven (H)
Marseille (A)
Athletic Bilbao (H)
Union Saint-Gilloise (A)

Pafos

Bayern Munich (H)
Chelsea (A)
Villarreal (H)
Juventus (A)
Slavia Prague (H)
Olympiacos (A)
Monaco (H)
Kairat (A)

Copenhagen

Borussia Dortmund (H)
Barcelona (A)
Bayer Leverkusen (H)
Villarreal (A)
Napoli (H)
Tottenham Hotspur (A)
Kairat (H)
Qarabağ (A)

Kairat Almaty

Real Madrid (H)
Inter Milan (A)
Club Brugge (H)
Arsenal (A)
Olympiacos (H)
Sporting CP (A)
Pafos (H)
Copenhagen (A)

Phew.

Some exciting ties to look forward to, then, with plenty of final rematches.

1962: Real Madrid vs Benfica
1972: Ajax vs Inter Milan
1997: Dortmund vs Juventus
2012: Chelsea vs Bayern
1998, 2017: Real Madrid vs Juventus
2018: Real Madrid vs Liverpool
2020: Bayern vs PSG

So what game are you looking forward to most?

Aside from the big ones, there's a nice ‘derby match’ worth watching.

Cypriot outfit Pafos travel to Greece to face Evangelos Marinakis' Olympiacos, as the Champions League heads to the Mediterranean. That's a nice little fixture.

We're done here. Thanks for joining us – back tomorrow all over again for the Europa and Conference League!