Champions League draw – when is it, how to watch it, and how does it work?

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·26. August 2025

Champions League draw – when is it, how to watch it, and how does it work?

The draw for the league phase of this season’s Champions League takes place on Thursday 28 August in Monaco.

The format remains the same as the 2024-25 season, when the 36-team league phase was introduced to replace the 32-team group stage format. 27 teams have qualified through their league position, and will be joined by the Champions League and Europa League winners as well as seven sides who qualify through the play-offs.

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The teams are split into four pots of nine, with teams placed in specific pots based on their own UEFA coefficient. Each team will be drawn out individually, starting with pot one, and they will be selected against eight opponents by UEFA’s automated software. They will be face two teams from each pot, with four games at home and a further four away.

No team are able to face a team from their own country until the knockout stages, and can only play a maximum of two matches against teams from the same country.

This procedure will continue until all 36 teams have had their fixtures decided. The fixture list with match dates and kick-off times, meanwhile, must be published by Saturday, 30 August.

Who is in each pot so far?

Pot 1: Paris Saint-Germain (UCL holders), Real Madrid, Manchester City, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Barcelona, Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund.

Pot 2: Arsenal, Bayer Leverkusen Atletico Madrid, Atalanta, Villarreal, Juventus, Eintracht Frankfurt, + two more teams yet to be decided.

Pot 3: Tottenham (UEL holders), PSV Eindhoven, Ajax, Napoli, Sporting CP, Olympiacos, Slavia Prague, Marseille, + one other yet to be decided.

Pot 4: Monaco, Galatasaray, Union Saint-Gilloise, Athletic Bilbao, Newcastle, + four more teams yet to be decided.

Teams yet to qualify

There are still seven places to be confirmed for the league phase, with the second legs of the play-off ties to be completed this week prior to the draw.

The teams will be Ferencvaros or Qarabag (1-3), Red Star Belgrade or Pafos (1-2), Bodo/Glimt or Sturm Graz (5-0), Celtic or Kairat (0-0), Basel or Copenhagen (1-1), Fenerbahce or Benfica (0-0) and Rangers or Club Brugge (1-3).