The best of the best from across Europe are set to collide once again for this season’s Champions League and the all-important draw will be conducted this week.
Paris Saint-Germain go into Europe’s premier club tournament as the defending champions having demolished Inter Milan in the final last term.
But that simply means the target on the back of Luis Enrique’s side has grown larger as the rest of the chasing pack look to dethrone the Parisian outfit.
This year’s edition marks the return of Premier League side Newcastle United to the Champions League after they finished fifth in the top-flight last season.
There is also a debut for Belgian club Union Saint-Gilloise in the league phase of the tournament.
Champions League 2025/26 draw: Date and how to follow
The draw for this year’s league phase will take place on Thursday, August 28.
It will be held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco and starts at 5pm UK time.
talkSPORT.com will have fans covered for the entirety of the draw with a live blog while talkSPORT will provide instant reaction as it happens and all the post-draw analysis.
To tune in to talkSPORT through the website, click HERE for the live stream.
You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.
Champions League 2025/26 draw format
This season’s Champions League marks a continuation from the new format that was introduced last year, where the regular group phase was replaced by the league phase.
There will be 36 teams in the league phase, but not every team can play each other twice as they would in a traditional league format.
Teams will be divided into four pots of nine based on their UEFA coefficient ranking, with defending champs PSG sitting pretty as the top seeds in pot one.
Each team will be drawn to face two opponents from pots one to four, which leaves every team playing eight games as opposed to six under the previous format.
Four of the eight games will be at home and the other four away.
Should there be multiple teams from one country, they will not be able to face each other.
Additionally, teams can’t be drawn against any more than two sides from a particular country.
The draw is randomly selected by a computer, with teams manually drawn one-by-one starting with pot one.
Champions League play-off fixtures this week
Tuesday, August 26
- Kairat v Celtic, 17:45 (Agg 0-0)
- Pafos v Red Star Belgrade, 20:00 (Agg 2-1)
- Sturm Graz v Bodo/Glimt, 20:00 (Agg 0-5)
Wednesday, August 27
- Qarabag v Ferencvaros, 17:45 (Agg 3-1)
- Benfica v Fenerbahce, 20:00 (Agg 0-0)
- Club Brugge v Rangers, 20:00 (Agg 3-1)
- Kobenhavn v Basel, 20:00 (Agg 1-1)
Champions League 2025/26 draw: Pots
Pot 1
- Paris Saint-Germain
- Real Madrid
- Manchester City
- Bayern Munich
- Liverpool
- Inter Milan
- Chelsea
- Borussia Dortmund
- Barcelona
Pot 2
- Arsenal
- Bayer Leverkusen
- Atletico Madrid
- Atalanta
- Villarreal
- Juventus
- Eintracht Frankfurt
Pot 3
- PSV Eindhoven
- Ajax
- Napoli
- Sporting CP
- Olympiacos
- Slavia Prague
- Marseille
Pot 4
- Galatasaray
- Union Saint-Gilloise
- Athletic Bilbao
- Newcastle
Pot TBC
- Tottenham
- Monaco
- Ferencvaros / Qarabag
- Red Star Belgrade / Pafos
- Bodo/Glimt / Sturm Graz
- Celtic / Kairat
- Basel / Copenhagen
- Fenerbahce / Benfica
- Rangers / Club Brugge
