UEFA Champions League 2025-26 group stage draw set for Thursday in Monaco
The draw for the 2025-26 UEFA Champions League group stage will take place tomorrow at 7:00 pm in Monaco. This will follow the same procedures introduced last season, marking the second year of the unified 36-team league stage.
The draw will include 27 teams that qualified through their league positions, the winners of last season’s Champions League and Europa League, and seven teams that advanced from the play-offs. Teams are divided into four levels according to UEFA’s classification system.
The first level features elite clubs including Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Milan, Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund, and Barcelona.
The second level includes Arsenal, Bayer Leverkusen, Atletico Madrid, Atalanta, Villarreal, Juventus, Eintracht Frankfurt, and Club Brugge. The third level consists of Tottenham, Ajax, PSV Eindhoven, Napoli, Sporting Lisbon, Olympiacos, Slavia Prague, Bodø Glimt, and Marseille, while the fourth level features Monaco, Paphos, Kairat Almaty, Galatasaray, Union Saint-Gilloise, Athletic Bilbao, and Newcastle.
New entrants making history in the group stage include Kairat Almaty, Paphos FC, and Bodø Glimt. Kairat Almaty secured a dramatic victory over Celtic on penalties, becoming the second team from Kazakhstan to qualify after Astana in 2015.
Paphos defeated Red Star Belgrade in both legs, marking the third Cypriot club to reach the Champions League group stage. Bodø Glimt qualified against Sturm Graz, becoming the first Norwegian team in the group stage since Rosenborg in 2007-2008.
Yesterday’s play-off matches also confirmed four other winners: Qarabag defeated Ferencvaros, Benfica overcame Fenerbahce, Club Brugge triumphed over Rangers, and Copenhagen beat Basel.
Each team will play a total of eight group stage matches, facing two teams from each level. Clubs will not play against teams from the same country, and no more than two matches may be played against teams from another country.
The group stage match schedule is as follows:
- First round: September 16-18, 2025
- Second round: September 30 – October 1
- Third round: October 21-22
- Fourth round: November 4-5
- Fifth round: November 25-26
- Sixth round: December 9-10
- Seventh round: January 20-21, 2026
- Eighth round: January 28, 2026
Tomorrow’s draw will set the stage for another thrilling Champions League season, with both historic qualifiers and European giants poised for intense competition.
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