UEFA Champions League Draw Produces Explosive Clashes

The draw for the unified league phase of the UEFA Champions League has produced a series of blockbuster clashes, headlined by Paris Saint-Germain, the reigning champions, who will face Bayern Munich, Barcelona, and last season’s Europa League winners, Tottenham Hotspur.

PSG, seeded in Pot 1, will also play against Atalanta, Bayer Leverkusen, Sporting Lisbon, Newcastle United, and Athletic Bilbao.

The new format of the Champions League, introduced last year, features 36 clubs, with each team playing eight matches. However, instead of being divided into groups as in previous editions, all clubs are placed in a single league table.

The clubs are distributed across four pots containing nine teams each, with every side playing against two clubs from each pot. Each team will have four matches at home and four away. The top eight teams in the final standings advance directly to the Round of 16, while clubs finishing between ninth and 24th enter a playoff round, with the eight winners completing the knockout bracket. Teams ranked from 25th to 36th will see their European journey end without dropping into another competition.

The draw placed Inter Milan, last season’s runners-up, against Liverpool, Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal, Atlético Madrid, Slavia Prague, Ajax, Kairat Almaty, and Union Saint-Gilloise.

Record 15-time champions Real Madrid will face Manchester City and Liverpool, along with Juventus, Benfica, Marseille, Olympiacos, Monaco, and Kairat.

From Pot 1, Bayern Munich were drawn against Chelsea — winners of both the Conference League and the Club World Cup — along with PSG, Club Brugge, Arsenal, Sporting, PSV Eindhoven, Union Saint-Gilloise, and Pafos.

Chelsea, now the only club to have won every European competition following their new-format Club World Cup triumph, will meet Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Benfica, Atalanta, Ajax, Napoli, Pafos, and Qarabağ.

Borussia Dortmund will take on Inter Milan, Manchester City, Villarreal, Juventus, Bodø/Glimt, Tottenham, Athletic Bilbao, and Copenhagen.

Premier League champions Liverpool will play Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Atlético Madrid, Eintracht Frankfurt, PSV Eindhoven, Marseille, Qarabağ, and Galatasaray.

La Liga champions Barcelona were drawn against Chelsea, PSG, Eintracht Frankfurt, Club Brugge, Olympiacos, Slavia Prague, Copenhagen, and Newcastle United.

Manchester City will face Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Villarreal, Napoli, Bodø/Glimt, Galatasaray, and Monaco.

The first matchday of the new league-phase format will take place between September 16, 2025, and January 28, 2026. UEFA will not announce the detailed fixture list until at least Friday, with the opening round scheduled for September 16–18 and the eighth and final round set for January 28.

The eventual winner, to be crowned on May 30, 2025, in Budapest, will earn no less than €86 million, up from €68 million previously, following an increase in prize money due to higher revenues from the revamped competition. A total of €2.467 billion will be distributed among participating clubs, compared to €2 billion in the 2023–24 season.