Who could Arsenal face in the Champions League league phase? | OneFootball

Arsenal will discover their 2025/26 Champions League league phase opponents on Thursday evening.

Mikel Arteta’s side will look to build on last season’s run to the semi-finals, where they were knocked out 3-1 on aggregate by eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain.

The Gunners finished third in the league phase last season, with only three goals conceded and one loss, before knocking out PSV Eindhoven and Real Madrid to reach the semi-final.

Entering its second year with the current format, Arsenal must finish inside the top eight to guarantee their progress into the round of 16.

Who could Arsenal face?

Arsenal have been placed in Pot 2 according to UEFA’s club coefficient rankings, alongside Bayer Leverkusen, Atletico Madrid, Benfica, Atalanta, Villarreal, Juventus, Eintracht Frankfurt and Club Brugge.

Here are the rest of the pots along with the teams in each:

Pot 1: Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona

Pot 3: Tottenham Hotspur, PSV Eindhoven, Ajax, Napoli, Sporting CP, Olympiakos, Slavia Prague, Bodø/Glimt, Marseille

Pot 4: FC Copenhagen, AS Monaco, Galatasaray, Union Saint-Gilloise, Qarabag, Athletic Club, Newcastle United, Pafos, Kairat Almaty

The Gunners will be drawn against two teams from each pot, with one home and one away fixture, but cannot face more than two clubs from the same nation, nor any Premier League opposition at this stage.

They will be hoping to avoid the long trip to Kazakhstan to face Kairat Almaty.

When does the league phase begin?

The opening gameweek is scheduled for September 16-18, falling between Arsenal’s meetings with Nottingham Forest and Manchester City.

After six more rounds, the league phase concludes on January 28 with a decisive final gameweek, in which every team will play at the same time.

To avoid the eliminator round and the burden of two additional fixtures, Arsenal must secure a place in the top eight of the league phase, as they did last season.