2025/26 Season: Tough test for English teams as Liverpool, City set to face Real Madrid in crunchy ties
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The new 36-team league format, introduced last season, means each team plays eight games – four at home and four away – against different opponents. English clubs cannot play each other until the knockout stages.
Liverpool and Manchester City have both been drawn against 15-time Champions League winners Real Madrid in this season’s league phase. Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United will also have tough tests, each facing defending champions Paris St-Germain.
The new 36-team league format, introduced last season, means each team plays eight games four at home and four away – against different opponents. English clubs cannot play each other until the knockout stages.
This year’s final will be held in Budapest. The first round of matches begins on 16 September 2025, with the last league fixtures on 28 January 2026.
Premier League Clubs’ Fixtures
Liverpool
- Home: Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, PSV Eindhoven, Qarabag
- Away: Inter Milan, Eintracht Frankfurt, Marseille, Galatasaray
Manchester City
- Home: Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen, Napoli, Galatasaray
- Away: Real Madrid, Villarreal, Bodo/Glimt, Monaco
Chelsea
- Home: Barcelona, Benfica, Ajax, Pafos
- Away: Bayern Munich, Atalanta, Napoli, Qarabag
Arsenal
- Home: Bayern Munich, Club Brugge, Slavia Prague, Athletic Bilbao
- Away: Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, Olympiacos, Kairat Almaty
Tottenham
- Home: Borussia Dortmund, Villarreal, Slavia Prague, Copenhagen
- Away: Paris St-Germain, Eintracht Frankfurt, Bodo/Glimt, Monaco
Newcastle
- Home: Barcelona, Benfica, PSV, Athletic Bilbao
- Away: Paris St-Germain, Bayer Leverkusen, Marseille, Union SG
- How the Format Works
- 36 teams compete in a single league table.
- Each team plays eight games (four home, four away).
- Top 8 qualify directly for the Round of 16.
- Teams finishing 9th to 24th go into a play-off for the remaining places.
- Teams finishing 25th or lower are eliminated and do not drop into the Europa League.
Last season, Liverpool finished top of the table.
Arsenal and Aston Villa also reached the top eight. Manchester City, Newcastle, and Celtic qualified for the play-off stage.
PSG won last season’s Champions League after defeating Inter Milan 5-0 to clinch their first title in history.
However they reached the final of the world Club Club final but lost to Chelsea the Conference League winners.
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