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Champions League 2025-26

IthacaMatt

IthacaMatt

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The draw has been finalized for this season's Champions League.

Last year was the first of the new format, which changed from groups of 4 teams who play round robin home-and-home matches into a "league format" with standings, and every team playing 2 teams drawn at random from each of the four seeded "pots", based on each team's UEFA coefficient.

I actually liked the new format, because it seemed like the old group approach was getting stale, with so many repeat match-ups from year to year in the group stages. There was more random, exciting opponents with this new format, even if it did require an extra 2 games in the first half of the season, before the knock-out phase.

Here is a list of all the matches, organized by Match Day 1-8. The opening round begins on September 16, and the 8th round wraps up on January 28, 2026.

www.uefa.com

2025/26 Champions League: All the league phase fixtures | UEFA Champions League

The fixtures for the league phase of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League have been released.
www.uefa.com www.uefa.com
 
Some great match-ups (and some ironic script writing?) from the draw for the League Phase.

Trent Alexander-Arnold left Liverpool in the summer for Real Madrid after running down his contract. Real paid 10M to Liverpool to let him join them for the Club World Cup. Now, TTA comes back to Anfield in Match Day 4. Nice storyline.

Similarly, Kevin DeBruyne wasn't even offered a new contract at City at the end of last season. Now, he's with defending Italian champions Napoli, and their brilliant coach Antonio Conte, who also won a title in England over Guardiola with Chelsea.

Barcelona will also play PSG in a game that will feature an insane amount of attacking talent. That one will be played in Match Week 2, at Camp Nou.

Chelsea with a tough draw, opening on the road at Bayern Munich (where they won the 2012 Final in Bayern's home stadium). They also play Barcelona in Match Day 5, and then finish at Napoli in the final game of the league phase.

Here's The Athletic's preview.

www.nytimes.com

Champions League draw: Predictions, key games, star players and surprise packages

Our experts break down the league phrase draw, selecting their ones to watch and predicting their final top eights
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
 
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For those of you who might not have known, there is also a Champions League Fantasy Football game. Here's the link:

Fantasy Football | UEFA Champions League | UEFA.com

The official UEFA Champions League Fantasy Football game. Pick your dream team, play against your friends and win exciting prizes.
gaming.uefa.com gaming.uefa.com
 
My picks for most interesting games from Match Week One:

Bayern hosts Chelsea. Tough ask. Bayern should win.

Liverpool hosts Athletico Madrid. Liverpool ought to win.

Man City hosts Napoli. I think Antonio Conte gets the win on the road.

Newcastle hosts Barcelona. They played with a lot of spirit last week. But this is also a tall ask.
 
I lost my post after Match Week 1, and now Match Week 2 is over. Here are my thoughts so far.

(I haven't seen as many matches as I have with the Prem, so let me know if you think I'm off the mark with any comments ...)

Looking back, these games / results stood out for me so far.

Opening Week (2 weeks ago)

Arsenal took care of business with a good 2-0 road win at Athletic Bilbao.
PSG blasted Atalanta, a quality Italian side, 4-0.

Liverpool won late to beat Athletico Madrid, 3-2, thanks to Virgil in stoppage time.
Juve drew with Dortmund in a 4-4 shootout.
Bayern "big boyed" Chelsea, 3-1. We were never really in it.

City with a quality opening win over Italian champions Napoli, after Di Lorenzo got a red card early in the first half.

Spurs with a tepid 1-0 win over Villareal in London after an early own goal from the visitors. Spurs didn't show much - 60% possession, but only 9 shots in 90 minutes.

Marcus Rashford had a double for Barcelona as they beat Newcastle 2-1, with Anthony Gordon getting a late consolation goal. Newcastle were never really in it. (Not to ignore how crazy the fans were until Rashford's first goal, about halfway through the first half.)

Real Madrid blasted their minnows in Week 1, Kairat Almaty from Kazahkstan, 5-0. Mbappe with a hat trick.

In Week 2, Marseille blasted a pretty good Ajax team 4-0, as Patrick Aubameyang turned back the clock with a goal and a couple assists.

Chelsea got an own-goal early against Benfica is Jose Mourinho's latest return to Stamford Bridge. That proved to be the difference in a boring win.

Spurs blew an opportunity, drawing 2-2 with minnows Bodo/Glimt.

Dortmund with a big win over Athletic Bilbao, with forrmer Chelsea guy Carney Chukwemeka getting a goal in their 4-0 victory.

Arsenal dispatched with Olympiakos at home, 2-0.
Napoli beat Sporting Lisbon at home, 2-1.
Man City was held to a draw at Monaco, not a great start for them.

Former Chelsea boy Renato Veiga got a 90th minute goal to secure a draw for Villareal at home against Juventus. Big result for them.

The big result of Week 2 was Barcelona losing at home to PSG, who were without Ousmanne Dembele, while Barca did have Lamine Yamal, who was a doubt before the game.

Overall thoughts - Bayern and Real Madrid both got off to great starts.

Mbappe with 2 goals in their opening game with Marseille, after USMNT's Tim Weah had opened the scoring. Five goals in 2 games, but he twisted his ankle in La Liga today.

Harry Kane with 4 goals for Bayern in 2 games so far. Chelsea was a quality win, and they blasted Pafos of Cyprus by 5-1. Tougher games await.

Inter is looking good so far, with wins over Slavia Prague and Ajax away, by a total of 5 goals with none conceded. Lautauro Martinez and Marcus Thuram with 2 goals each so far, and Denzel Dumfries (who I really like as a RB) chipping in the other one.

When I do watch Serie A, it's usually Milan to see Pulisic and former Chelsea or USMNT guys on the team (RLC, Timori, Musah before he was sold ...). I like Inter a lot - Lautauro Martinez is somebody that I wish Chelsea had signed a couple years ago when they were looking for a forward.

Marcus Thurman is strong and powerful up front, and I kind of like the Italian way of playing double attacking centers, with a big guy and a quick one to play off of him. Romelu Lukaku was good at that for a few years in Italy, too.
 
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Tuesday featured a couple really big games, as Bayern Munich beat Paris St. Germain in Paris, and Liverpool beat Real Madrid at Anfield.

English teams make up 6 of the top 13 teams (nearly half) at the top of the standings. Arsenal's defense is on pace to be considered "all time great", by some analyses I've seen.

Bayern, Arsenal and Inter Milan look like the top challengers as we finish week 4, the halfway point of the "League Phase". PSG was missing Doue and Dembele left injured again after only 25 minutes.

Liverpool are perhaps better in Champions League than in the Premier League, but Mo Salah just isn't clicking. Florian Wirtz and Ekitike pair well against European competition.

Thibault Courtois is a brilliant goalkeeper, and gives Real Madrid a real chance to win it, too. They are cruising in La Liga, 5 points up on Barca in 1st place. So they will have a chance to be in the late rounds. In fact, with Mbappe and Vini, Jr., they expect it.

Napoli, last year's Italian champions under Antonio Conte, have dropped 2 of 4 matches, and have only 3 points. Juventus has 3 draws and a loss from their first 4 matches, and also are at risk of missing out on the top 24 cut off for the knock out rounds.

Benfica, shockingly, have lost all 3 games so far, and sit near last in the table, ahead of only legendary Ajax of Amsterdam, who are also winless in their first 3, and sit -11 in goal differential.
 
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IthacaMatt said:
Tuesday featured a couple really big games, as Bayern Munich beat Paris St. Germain in Paris, and Liverpool beat Real Madrid at Anfield.

English teams make up 6 of the top 13 teams (nearly half) at the top of the standings. Arsenal's defense is on pace to be considered "all time great", by some analyses I've seen.

Bayern, Arsenal and Inter Milan look like the top challengers as we finish week 4, the halfway point of the "League Phase". PSG was missing Doue and Dembele left injured again after only 25 minutes.

Liverpool are perhaps better in Champions League than in the Premier League, but Mo Salah just isn't clicking. Florian Wirtz and Ekitike pair well against European competition.

Thibault Courtois is a brilliant goalkeeper, and gives Real Madrid a real chance to win it, too. They are cruising in La Liga, 5 points up on Barca in 1st place. So they will have a chance to be in the late rounds. In fact, with Mbappe and Vini, Jr., they expect it.

Napoli, last year's Italian champions under Antonio Conte, have dropped 2 of 4 matches, and have only 3 points. Juventus has 3 draws and a loss from their first 4 matches, and also are at risk of missing out on the top 24 cut off for the knock out rounds.

Benfica, shockingly, have lost all 3 games so far, and sit near last in the table, ahead of only legendary Ajax of Amsterdam, who are also winless in their first 3, and sit -11 in goal differential.
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I think Salah is suffering from having too many new faces and some in new positions on the pitch. Liverpool lost a lot of speed up front with Diaz and Nunez on the press. They also lost all the savvy and intangibles that Diogo Jota brought to the side. He was a deft passer and finisher inside the box. He fed Salah on multiple occasions. Losing Jota hurt more than most acknowledge. He was the glue guy. The real problem is the defense, which looks lost and overwhelmed at times because they are so used to the midfield and forwards winning their match-ups and keeping the ball out of the final third. Slot has played his back 4 too wide trying to play like last season, and his right and left backs aren’t performing. He needs to find out how the pieces fit before the season totally gets away from him. Salah has been neutralized by Slot’s shuffling of the deck. It’s almost as if this team is built to function in the final third without Salah.

Oh, and they need Allison back now! Never should have let Kelleher go.
 
cusefan88 said:
Bayern-Arsenal next match day is a realistic Final preview.
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Yeah, I agree with that. Harry Kane is having a terrific year, and if they can win Champions League this year with Bayern, I think he'll go back to England to try to break Alan Shearer's all time goals record.
 
PeteCalvin said:
I think Salah is suffering from having too many new faces and some in new positions on the pitch. Liverpool lost a lot of speed up front with Diaz and Nunez on the press. They also lost all the savvy and intangibles that Diogo Jota brought to the side. He was a deft passer and finisher inside the box. He fed Salah on multiple occasions. Losing Jota hurt more than most acknowledge. He was the glue guy. The real problem is the defense, which looks lost and overwhelmed at times because they are so used to the midfield and forwards winning their match-ups and keeping the ball out of the final third. Slot has played his back 4 too wide trying to play like last season, and his right and left backs aren’t performing. He needs to find out how the pieces fit before the season totally gets away from him. Salah has been neutralized by Slot’s shuffling of the deck. It’s almost as if this team is built to function in the final third without Salah.

Oh, and they need Allison back now! Never should have let Kelleher go.
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Really good analysis, Pete. I hope Liverpool can get it together, but I think they may do better in Champions League this year, than in the Premier League.

I think Arsenal are finally going to win The Premier League this year, and maybe win 2 or 3 more trophies. Their defense, 1/4 of the way into the season, is looking like one of the best since Mourinho's Chelsea only allowed 15 goals in his first year, 20 years ago.
 
IthacaMatt said:
Really good analysis, Pete. I hope Liverpool can get it together, but I think they may do better in Champions League this year, than in the Premier League.

I think Arsenal are finally going to win The Premier League this year, and maybe win 2 or 3 more trophies. Their defense, 1/4 of the way into the season, is looking like one of the best since Mourinho's Chelsea only allowed 15 goals in his first year, 20 years ago.
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Geez, you have the memory of an elephant, Matt! 😉
 
PeteCalvin said:
Geez, you have the memory of an elephant, Matt! 😉
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I've always been a stats guy, Pete.
When I was a kid, I made up computer sports simulation games before I had a computer, just figuring out dice odds, and how to translate that to a sports result. I made a sort of Strat-O-Matic game for track, and also for boxing and a couple other sports.
 
CanadianSU said:
I’ve tuned out a bit since the new format.
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I actually like it better. With the old format, the away goals rule used to be huge, and forced teams to try to score on the road, not just play for a goalless draw. But the old format got stale for me, because it seemed like the same teams played each other in the group stage year after year.

Now, instead of playing only 3 teams home-and-away, you get to play 7 different teams in the "League Phase". You aren't sure if one game will be critical or not to advancing. I used to really like the away goals rule, but the variety of opponents makes this phase more interesting to me.
 
The Champions League "league phase" of 8 matches has ended.

Five of the six (!) English clubs all finished in the Top 8 spots, getting byes into the Round of 16.

Newcastle, the "laggard", finished in 12th out of 36 teams, and will be in the two round "play off round" to make the other half of the Final 16, opposite the top 8 seeded clubs who got the byes.

Chelsea will be happy to miss two Champions League games by avoiding the playoff round and finishing top 8.

This will give the new coach, Liam Rosenior, a chance to get some more work in on the training ground, to get across how his ideas may differ from the deposed Enzo Maresca.

Meanwhile, Aston Villa sit 2nd in the Europa League with Nottingham Forest in 12th place out of 36 clubs. Villa could win the tournament to give Unai Emery his fifth win in that tournament.

In the Conference League, England's sole entry, Crystal Palace sit 10th and should make the knock out stages.

All of this means that the Premier League is currently way out front in the UEFA country coefficient standings and will almost certainly get a 5th qualifier in next year's Champions League, and perhaps a 6th again if Aston Villa can win the Europa League.
 
By the way, Chelsea's win over Napoli in the last group game was a come from behind 3-2 win, where Joao Pedro hit a pair of sweet goals in the 2nd half, with Estevao ("Steve-O" to the fans) and Cole Palmer with the assists.

The new coach has won 5 out of 6 in all comps since taking over. Lots of teams get "The New Coach Bounce", but we were so flat for 6 weeks, so I'm happy for the improvements.
 
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IthacaMatt said:
By the way, Chelsea's win over Napoli in the last group game was a come from behind 3-2 win, where Joao Pedro hit a pair of sweet goals in the 2nd half, with Estevao ("Steve-O" to the fans) and Cole Palmer with the assists.

The new coach has won 5 out of 6 in all comps since taking over. Lots of teams get "The New Coach Bounce", but we were so flat for 6 weeks, so I' happy for the improvements.
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Will be interesting to see the second leg cup tie vs Arsenal next week.
 
cusefan88 said:
Will be interesting to see the second leg cup tie vs Arsenal next week.
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They have to win by one to get to extra time. But 2 reverses the tie and they make the finals. Estevao is getting more time. Joao Pedro is on fire lately, and Cole Palmer is playing well in highly-managed minutes. I think they could honestly do it.
 

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