Founded in 1955, Champions League has become one of the world’s biggest sports properties. Its 2025/26 edition is launching in an altered format, with 36 clubs playing eight games through the league phase, replacing the old group stage and knockout rounds.
The new system sees a tennis-style ranked bracket, so the higher you finish in the group stages, the easier your route to the final. The draw creates two matches, home and away, between each pair of teams. The team that scores more goals over the two legs advances.
Domestic champions and runner-ups from top European leagues are automatically qualified, while clubs from weaker associations compete in three qualifying rounds and a playoff round known as the League Path. The first-place club from the qualifying competition joins the automatic qualifiers in official Champions League competition.
There is still a draw (of sorts) at the start of the season to create the league-phase fixtures: each club will play twice against opponents from four seeding pots, including their own. The titleholders and top-eight clubs on the Champions League coefficient are prioritised for Pot 1, while the remaining clubs are ordered by their league ranking.
The league-phase draw created individual fixture lists for each of the 36 participating clubs, with a balanced schedule for each that includes eight games through January. A new slot will be awarded to the winner of the qualifying path, allowing a fifth club to qualify via this route instead of the traditional four, with the additional place available only to a club from the top five of the final standings.