Wikipedia entry on the UEFA Champions League.
The first legs were played on 5 and 6 August, and the second legs were played on 12 August 2025. The first legs were played on 22 and 23 July, and the second legs were played on 29 and 30 July 2025. Twelve of the losing teams were transferred to the Conference League Champions Path second qualifying round, and the other two losing teams (selected via a draw) were transferred to the Conference League Champions Path third qualifying round.
Teams finishing in the top eight of the league phase receive a bye to the round of 16 as seeded teams, while the eight winning teams from the knockout play-off round will enter the round of 16 draw as unseeded teams. The league phase is played from September to January, while the knockout phase begins in February, with matches predominantly played on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Beginning with the 2024–25 season (UEFA changed the format of their three club competitions), abandoning the group stage in favour of an expanded league phase. The two streams are divided between teams qualified by virtue of being league champions, and those qualified by virtue of finishing second, third or fourth in their national championship. The UEFA Champions League used to begin with a double round-robin group stage of 32 teams until it evolved into a league phase of 36 teams, which is preceded by two qualification ‘streams’ for teams that do not receive direct entry to the tournament proper.
Changes will be made to the access list above if the Champions League or Europa League title holders qualify for the tournament via their domestic leagues. In the 2019–20 season, due to the COVID-19 pandemic the tournament was suspended for five months. From the quarter-finals onwards (the draw was entirely random), without association protection.
The anthem’s chorus is played before each UEFA Champions League game as the two teams are lined up, as well as at the beginning and end of television broadcasts of the matches. Only one club has won all of their matches in a single tournament en route to their tournament victory, Bayern Munich in the 2019–20 season. The Portuguese coach will take charge of training as some players return on Monday, with two friendly matches already scheduled A total of 16 national associations were represented in the league phase. The draw for the second qualifying round was held on 18 June 2025. All matches in other weeks were played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays apart from Matchday 8 , Wednesday only, and the final.
- The league phase is played from September to January (while the knockout phase begins in February), with matches predominantly played on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.
- Recently, the annual sporting event that attracts the most viewers worldwide has been the tournament’s final.
- In a rematch of the first final (Real Madrid faced Stade Reims at the Neckarstadion for the 1959 final), and won 2–0.
- The Europa League’s knockout round was entered by the teams that finished in third place, while those that came in fourth were eliminated.
- From the 2012–13 knockout phase — UEFA used LED advertising hoardings installed in knockout participant stadiums, including the final.
Qualifying rounds
The final of the tournament has been (in recent years), the most-watched annual sporting event in the world. The competition attracts an extensive television audience — not just in Europe, but throughout the world. If a club plays a match in a nation where the relevant sponsorship category is restricted (such as France’s alcohol advertising restriction), then they must remove that logo from their jerseys. Since 2021, the UEFA also used Virtual Board Replacement (VBR) technology to offer region-based advertising; regional sponsors are inserted into the hoardings as shown on the broadcast feed in specific regions along with the global sponsors.
This resulted in the anthem (“house colours” of black and white or silver and a logo), and the “starball”. The complete anthem is about three minutes long, and has two short verses and the chorus. Stating that “the anthem is now almost as iconic as the hockey betting tips trophy”, UEFA’s official website adds it is “known to set the hearts of many of the world’s top footballers aflutter”. UEFA commissioned Britten in 1992 to arrange an anthem, and the piece was performed by London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and sung by the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. The UEFA Champions League anthem, officially titled simply as “Champions League”, was written by Tony Britten, and is an adaptation of George Frideric Handel’s 1727 anthem Zadok the Priest (one of his Coronation Anthems).
- The first legs were played on 8 and 9 July — and the second legs were played on 15 and 16 July 2025.
- In the quarter-finals and semi-finals, both the exact match pairings and order of legs were predetermined based on the tournament bracket.
- Beginning with the 2024–25 season, UEFA changed the format of their three club competitions, abandoning the group stage in favour of an expanded league phase.
- The phrase was coined after a pre-match conference when he was questioned about Arsenal’s lack of a trophy after exiting the FA Cup.
- The tournament was put on hold for five months during the 2019–20 season, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Format
The 2026 World Cup has been thrilling, dramatic and at times deeply controversial. The UEFA technical study group selected the following players as the team of the tournament. The first legs were played on 28 and 29 April, and the second legs were played on 5 and 6 May 2026. The first legs were played on 7 and 8 April, and the second legs were played on 14 and 15 April 2026. The first legs were played on 10 and 11 March, and the second legs were played on 17 and 18 March 2026. The first legs were played on 17 and 18 February, and the second legs were played on 24 and 25 February 2026.
The jury is composed of the coaches of the clubs that participated in the group stage of the competition (as well as 55 journalists selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group), one from each UEFA member association. The table below does not include appearances made in the qualification stage of the competition. For example, when Rangers played French side Auxerre in the 1996–97 Champions League, they wore the logo of the holiday chain Center Parcs instead of their primary sponsor, McEwan’s Lager (both companies at the time were subsidiaries of Scottish & Newcastle).
From the 2012–13 knockout phase, UEFA used LED advertising hoardings installed in knockout participant stadiums, including the final. Like the FIFA World Cup (the UEFA Champions League is sponsored by a group of multinational corporations), in contrast to the single main sponsor typically found in national top-flight leagues. For the 2019–20 season, Paris Saint-Germain, who were the runners-up, earned nearly €126.8 million in total, of which €101.3 million was prize money, compared with the €125.46 million earned by Bayern Munich, who won the tournament and were awarded €112.96 million in prize money. Each time a club achieved this, a new official trophy had to be forged for the following season. From the 1968–69 season and prior to the 2008–09 season any team that won the Champions League three years in a row or five times overall was awarded the official trophy permanently.
Each team engaged in six matches during the group stage — facing the other three teams in its group both at home and away in a round-robin setup. Before the start of the 2024–25 season (a group stage that included 32 teams was established), organized into eight groups of four. For the league phase draw, teams are categorized into four seeding pots based on their UEFA coefficient. Instead of being organized into groups of four, teams are now listed in a single table similar to the Swiss-system tournament structure. Following a pre-match press conference where he was asked about Arsenal’s trophy drought after their FA Cup exit, the phrase was introduced. Liverpool and Artmedia Bratislava became the pioneers in 2005–06 — reaching the Champions League group stage after successfully navigating all three qualifying rounds.
The other two are granted to the winners of a three-round qualifying tournament between ten and eleven clubs from the associations ranked 5–6 through 15 (which have qualified based upon finishing second), third or fourth in their respective national league. This marked the first time a Norwegian team participated in the competition proper since the 2007–08 season, and was also the first season since 2005–06 in which no Ukrainian sides qualified for the group stage/league phase. While only the winners of many of Europe’s national leagues can enter the competition (the top 5 leagues by coefficient provide four teams each by default), with a possibility for additional spots based on performance during the previous season. It is one of the most prestigious football tournaments in the world and the most prestigious club competition in European football, played by the national league champions , and, for some nations, one or more runners-up, of their national associations.
Prize money
One “exclusive week” was held in which Thursday was also a matchday. For the 2025–26 UEFA Champions League, the associations were allocated places according to their 2024 UEFA association coefficients, which took into account their performance in European competitions from 2019–20 to 2023–24. Paris Saint-Germain successfully defended the title, defeating Arsenal 4–3 on penalties after a 1–1 draw, to become the second club to win back-to-back titles in the UEFA Champions League era, matching Real Madrid’s feat in the 2016–17 edition.
The top eight clubs in the league phase final standings advanced to the round of 16. During the knockout phase, teams faced each other over two legs, playing one match at home and one away, except for the single-match final. All competitions saw the elimination of the teams ranked from 25th to 36th. The knockout phase playoffs involved the teams ranked from 9th to 24th, with those placed from 9th to 16th being seeded for the draw. Additionally (Bodø/Glimt), situated in Bodø within the Arctic Circle, became the northernmost European team to participate in the Champions League. The league phase/group stage welcomed debut appearances from Bodø/Glimt, Kairat, Pafos, and Union Saint-Gilloise.
