Champions League 2025/26 taking shape

And that’s a wrap for the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League. This Saturday in Munich, Luis Enrique’s PSG defeated Inter 5-0 in the grand final and were crowned champions for the first time in their history. This brings to a close a special edition of the tournament, as it was the first to be played under the new format. It was also a year that confirmed Barça’s return to the European elite, with Hansi Flick’s side reaching the semi-finals and coming very close to making it to Munich.

Playing (and winning) the final will be one of FC Barcelona’s objectives next season, and they are already starting to learn who their potential rivals might be. At this stage, not all teams have been confirmed, but 29 out of the 36 teams that will compete in the League Phase have already qualified. They are as follows:

• Europa League champion: Tottenham
• England: Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea, Newcastle Utd
• Italy: Napoli, Inter, Atalanta, Juventus
• Spain: Barça, Madrid, Atlético Madrid, Athletic Club, Villarreal
• Germany: Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, Eintracht Frankfurt, Borussia Dortmund
• France: PSG, Olympique Marseilles, Monaco
• Netherlands: PSV, Ajax
• Portugal: Sporting CP
• Belgium: Royale Union Saint-Gilloise
• Turkey: Galatasaray
• Czechia: Slavia Prague
• Greece: Olympiacos

The seven remaining teams will secure their places through a qualifying round. Once all 36 teams are confirmed, the seeding pots will be finalised based on UEFA coefficients over the past five seasons. That’s why, although 29 teams are already confirmed, most of them still don’t know which pot they’ll be in.

At present, the only pot that is finalised and won’t change is Pot 1, which includes Barça. It consists of: Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, PSG, Inter, Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund and Barça themselves.

How it works

The draw for the league phase will take place on 28 August, once the qualifying rounds are complete. After the seeding pots are finalised, a computer system will randomly pair each team with 8 different opponents, two from each pot (one home and one away).

This means, for example, that Barça already knows they will face two teams from Pot 1 that are not from the same national association, one at home and one away. This same logic applies to the rest of their matches, with the condition that they can face no more than two clubs from the same country.

Like last season, the top 8 teams qualify directly for the round of 16 (with the second leg at home), while teams ranked 9th to 24th will compete in a play-off round for a place in the last 16.