Champions League returns this season as the biggest clubs in European football prepare to face each other.
Last season’s competition was won by Paris Saint-Germain under the leadership of manager Luis Enrique, who guided the French club to their first Champions League triumph.
The Champions League journey for 2025/26 has been quietly but steadily unfolding for months, long before the group stage glamour and the lights of Europe’s biggest arenas take center stage.
Since early July, the competition has been bubbling away with the qualifying rounds, where lesser-known clubs from across the continent battled fiercely for a place among Europe’s elite.
In total, 53 teams were part of this rigorous process. Of those, 42 sides entered via the Champions Path, which is specifically designed for league winners from smaller European nations, while the remaining 11 clubs joined through the League Path, reserved for non-champions from the stronger leagues.
At stake were just seven coveted slots in the newly formatted league phase of the Champions League, a prize that can transform the financial and sporting fortunes of a club overnight.
This week brought the final round of qualifiers to a dramatic conclusion. On Wednesday night, European regulars Benfica, along with Qarabag and Club Brugge, emerged triumphant from their ties, securing their places in the main draw.
With the qualifying rounds wrapped up, the full lineup of 36 teams is now confirmed. All of them will begin their quest to follow in the footsteps of last season’s winners, Paris Saint-Germain, who claimed their maiden European crown in emphatic fashion.
The Champions League league phase promises drama, iconic nights, and perhaps even the birth of another historic story, just as PSG wrote theirs last season.
2025/26 Champions League fixtures
POT 1
Bayern Munich
Chelsea
Arsenal
PSG
Club Brugge
Sporting
Union SG
Pafos
PSV
Chelsea
Bayern Munich
Barcelona
Benfica
Atalanta
Ajax
Napoli
Pafos
Qarabag
Inter Milan
Liverpool
Dortmund
Arsenal
Atletico Madrid
Slavia Prague
Ajax
Kairat
Union SG
Barcelona
Chelsea
PSG
Frankfurt
Club Brugge
Olympiacos
Slavia Prague
Copenhagen
Newcastle
Liverpool
Real Madrid
Inter
Atletico…
..
