Greg . 2 days ago

UEFA Champions League: All the key information over teams, draws & dates

The 2025/26 UEFA Champions League is fast approaching.

Below is everything you need to know over who has qualified, who could qualify, when the next sketch is and all the key dates for the upcoming season.

The next Champions League sketch & where to watchThe next Champions League sketch is for the playoff round of qualifiers, which is the final stage of the qualifying process ahead of the main league phase.

However, the third qualifying round is yet to take place and will not be completed until August 13th.

The next sketch will be gripped on Monday, August 4th, at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland.

You can watch the sketch on UEFA.

com.

 Seedings, any groupings and the procedure will be available on UEFA.

com from 08:30 CET on the day of the sketch.

The following sides have already qualified for the 25/26 Champions League (in alphabetical order): Ajax (NED), Arsenal (ENG), Atalanta (ITA), Athletic Club (ESP), Atletico Madrid (ESP), Barcelona (ESP), Bayer Leverkusen (GER), Bayern Munich (GER), Borussia Dortmund (GER), Chelsea (ENG), Eintracht Frankfurt (GER), Galatasaray (TUR), Inter Milan (ITA), Juventus (ITA), Liverpool (ENG), Manchester City (ENG), Marseille (FRA), Monaco (FRA), Napoli (ITA), Newcastle (ENG), Olympiacos (GRE), Paris Saint-Germain (FRA), PSV Eindhoven (NED), Real Madrid (ESP), Royale Union Saint-Gilloise (BEL), Slavia Prague (CZE), Sporting CP (POR), Tottenham Hotspur (ENG), Villarreal (ESP)Joining the listed 29 sides will be the seven winners of the playoff round of qualifiers.

As mentioned, the third qualifying round is yet to take place and precedes the final playoff round.

Pursue the rest of the 25/26 Champions League qualifiers with Betopick here.

Key dates for the 2025/26 Champions LeagueDraw for the playoff round: August 4thThird qualifying round: August 5th and 6th (first legs), August 12th and 13th (second legs)Playoff round: August 19th and 20th (first legs), August 26th and 27th (second legs)Sketch for League Phase fixtures: August 28thLeague Phase first matchday: September 16th-18thLeague Phase last matchday: January 28th, 2026Sketch for knockout playoffs: January 30thKnockout playoffs: February 17th and 18th (first legs), February 24th and 25th (second legs)Final sketch (for round of 16 and beyond): February 27th, 2026Round of 16: March 10th and 11th (first legs), March 17th and 18th (second legs)Quarter-finals: April 7th and 8th (first legs), April 14th and 15th (second legs)Semi-finals: April 28th and 29th (first legs), May 5th and 6th (second legs)Final: May 30thWhen & where is the 25/26 Champions League finalThe Champions League final will take place on May 30th, 2026, at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary.

The stadium is an all-seater with a capacity of 67,215.

It is the first time the final will be staged in Hungary.

Budapest's Puskas Arena will host the 25/26 Champions League finalIMAGO/Herrmann Agenturfotografie via Reuters ConnectUEFA Champions League format explainedAhead of last season's competition, there was a big overhaul of UEFA’s premier competition, and indeed all of the continental cups in Europe.

Gone are the days of the 32-team group phase with pools - a 36-team league phase has replaced that format.

This season, just like last, each of the 36 teams plays eight games.

The top eight at the terminate of the league phase automatically qualify for the round of 16, while the bottom eight are removed and do not drop down to the Europa League.

Meanwhile, the teams that completed between ninth and 24th move into the knockout playoff round to decide which further eight will complete the round of 16.

The final sketch for the knockout stages takes place after the knockout playoff round.

The round of 16 sees the top eight (seeded) teams drawn against the other (unseeded) teams.

The quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final pursue as per typical cup competitions.

You can learn more over the new format of the European competitions in UEFA's explainer video from last season below:Pursue the 2025/26 Champions League with Betopick.