The 2025/2026 UEFA Champions League edition begins this Tuesday (8) with the first leg matches of the playoffs’ first phase.
There are fourteen duels in total, with the return matches taking place as early as next week.
Only seven spots remain for the competition’s elite phase, the league phase.
These spots will be contested by a total of 53 teams.
The Champions 25/26 final will be held at the Puskรกs Arรฉna in Budapest on May 30 of next year.
Check below for details on the journey to the league phase and which teams have already secured spots in the next playoff phases.
1st Pre-Eliminary Round Duels
The teams on the right will play the second match as hosts.
9/7 and 15/7 – ลฝalgiris (LTU) ๐ Hamrun Spartans FC (MLT) – Match 1
8/7 and 15/7 – KuPS Kuopio (FIN) ๐ FC Milsami Orhei (MDA) – Match 2
8/7 and 15/7 – The New Saints (WAL) ๐ KF Shkรซndija (MKD) – Match 3
8/7 and 15/7 – FC Iberia 1999 Tbilisi (GEO) ๐ Malmรถ (SWE) – Match 4
8/7 and 15/7 – FC Levadia Tallinn (EST) ๐ FC RFS (LVA) – Match 5
8/7 and 15/7 – FC Drita (KOS) ๐ Differdange (LUX) – Match 6
8/7 and 15/7 – Vรญkingur (FRO) ๐ Lincoln Red Imps (GIB) – Match 7
8/7 and 15/7 – KF Egnatia (ALB) ๐ Breidablik (ISL) – Match 8
9/7 and 16/7 – Shelbourne (IRL) ๐ Linfield FC (NIR) – Match 9
9/7 and 15/7 – Fotbal Club FCSB (ROU) ๐ Inter Club d’Escaldes (AND) – Match 10
8/7 and 15/7 – Virtus AC (SMR) ๐ Hล K Zrinjski (BIH) – Match 11
8/7 and 15/7 – Olimpija Ljubljana (SVN) ๐ FC Kairat Almaty (KAZ) – Match 12
8/7 and 15/7 – FC Noah (ARM) ๐ FK Buduฤnost Podgorica (MNE) – Match 13
9/7 and 16/7 – Ludogorets (BUL) ๐ Dinamo-Minsk (BLR) – Match 14
2nd Phase Scheduled Duels:
Sixteen teams have already secured spots in the second preliminary phase.
Winner of Match 1 ๐ Winner of Match 4
Winner of Match 1 ๐ Dรญnamo de Kiev ๐บ๐ฆ
Pafos ๐จ๐พ ๐ Maccabi Tel Aviv ๐ฎ๐ฑ
Winner of Match 7 ๐ Estrela Vermelha ๐ท๐ธ
Winner of Match 13 ๐ Ferencvรกros ๐ญ๐บ
Lech Poznaล ๐ต๐ฑ ๐ Winner of Match 8
Winner of Match 6 ๐ Copenhagen ๐ฉ๐ฐ
Rijeka ๐ญ๐ท ๐ Winner of Match 14
Winner of Match 3 ๐ Winner of Match 10
Slovan Bratislava ๐ธ๐ฐ ๐ Winner of Match 11
Winner of Match 9 ๐ Qarabaฤ ๐ฆ๐ฟ
Winner of Match 2 ๐ Winner of Match 12
Brann ๐ณ๐ด ๐ Salzburg ๐ฆ๐น
Viktoria Plzen ๐จ๐ฟ ๐ Servette ๐จ๐ญ
Rangers ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ ๐ Panathinaikos ๐ฌ๐ท
Teams Guaranteed for the 3rd Elimination Round:
There will be 20 teams in total competing for ten spots in the final playoff phase, with five already known.
Benfica ๐ต๐น
Brugge ๐ง๐ช
Feyenoord ๐ณ๐ฑ
Fenerbahรงe ๐น๐ท
Nice ๐ซ๐ท
Teams Already Secured for the Final Elimination! Phase:
The ten teams that advance from the previous phase will secure spots in the final playoff phase, which already includes four teams.
Only seven will survive.
Bodรธ/Glimt ๐ณ๐ด
Celtic ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ
Basel ๐จ๐ญ
Sturm Graz ๐ฆ๐น
Duels Prohibited due to Political and/or Historical Reasons*:
Teams from Armenia ๐ teams from Azerbaijan
Teams from Gibraltar ๐ teams from Spain
Teams from Kosovo ๐ teams from Bosnia-Herzegovina
Teams from Kosovo ๐ teams from Serbia
Teams from Ukraine ๐ teams from Belarus
*Teams from Russia would not be able to face rivals from Ukraine and Kosovo, but the country has been suspended from UEFA competitions since February 2022.
Teams Already Secured in the League Phase:
Athletic Bilbao ๐ช๐ธ
Atlรฉtico de Madrid ๐ช๐ธ
Barcelona ๐ช๐ธ
Real Madrid ๐ช๐ธ
Villarreal ๐ช๐ธ
Arsenal ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ
Chelsea ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ
Liverpool ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ
Manchester City ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ
Newcastle ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ
Tottenham ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ
Atalanta ๐ฎ๐น
Inter de Milรฃo ๐ฎ๐น
Juventus ๐ฎ๐น
Napoli ๐ฎ๐น
Bayern de Munique ๐ฉ๐ช
Bayer Leverkusen ๐ฉ๐ช
Borussia Dortmund ๐ฉ๐ช
Eintracht Frankfurt ๐ฉ๐ช
Marseille ๐ซ๐ท
Monaco ๐ซ๐ท
PSG ๐ซ๐ท
Sporting ๐ต๐น
Ajax ๐ณ๐ฑ
Galatasaray ๐น๐ท
Olympiacos ๐ฌ๐ท
PSV ๐ณ๐ฑ
Slavia Praga ๐ธ๐ฐ
Union Saint-Gilloise ๐ง๐ช
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in ๐ง๐ท here.
๐ธ Justin Setterfield – 2025 Getty Images