The draw for this season’s Champions League league phase has handed us matches against Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, Club Brugge, Olympiakos, Slavia Prague, Kairat Almaty and Athletic Club.
With each club playing four games at home and four away, we’ll be hosting the German champions, Athletico, Olympiakos and debutants Kairat at Emirates Stadium. Then on our travels, we’ll return to the San Siro to tackle Inter for the second season in a row, as well as enjoy trips to Bruges, Prague and Bilbao.
The exact dates for these fixtures will be confirmed on Saturday.
Champions League 2025/26 format
Following the introduction of the League Phase last season, the format will continue in 2025/26, with each team playing eight matches against eight different teams, four at home and four away.
The top eight sides in the league qualify automatically for the knockout stage, while the teams finishing in ninth to 24th place will compete in a two-legged play-off to secure their path into the last 16.
Champions League 2025/26 match schedule
Our first match of the league phase will take place between September 16-18, with five more rounds of games taking place in 2025. These will be held on September 30-October 1, October 21-22, November 4-5, November 25-26, and December 9-10.
The final two league phase games will happen in January. The penultimate match will take place on January 20-21 before all 36 sides play at the same time in the final set of matches on Wednesday, January 28, 2026.
