For the second time, the draw for the championship phase in the new Champions League format, which is introduced last year, takes place: a draw that is held today at 6 pm on the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.
Historical balls are almost retired. The old analogue drawing method would in fact require approximately 3 to 4 hours according to simulations.
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The new procedure will follow the usual timing instead, which is approximately 30 minutes.
👀 How does the trek work?
The teams are divided into 4 pots according to their coefficient. The Champions League holder is the best seed in pot 1, regardless of the coefficient. Starting with the 9 clubs in the first pot, the first step is taken: a team is drawn manually and then a special software randomly attracts 8 opponents, 2 per pot.
Club per club, the process will continue with the other pots in decreasing order until all teams are pulled against an opponent. The software also randomly determines which teams play at home and away. The clubs will be confronted with two opponents from the same pot and play a match at home and one way.
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The software follows certain principles to ensure that teams are not confronted with one of the same national federation and that they are confronted with a maximum of two clubs from another federation. The use of the computer prevents incorrect combinations with regard to the different tournament sizes. During the draw, the software always checks to ensure that no deadlock situations can occur.
📊 The second phase
From these competitions a ranking will of course come to the fore: the top 8 in general goes directly to the Tour of 16 as top seeds, while those who are between 9th and 24th will play in the play -offs (the teams will be between the 17th and 24th between the 9th and 16th place).
The teams that are from 25th place are eliminated from all UEFA competitions. The seed position determines the path of every club in the knockout phase, from the play -offs to the final. The higher the teams end in the ranking, the higher their seeding position will be.
⚽️ It starts on September 16: the dates
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1st competition day: September 16-18, 2025
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2nd matchday: September 30 – October 1, 2025
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3rd Matchday: 21/22 October 2025
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4th competition day: 4/5 November 2025
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5th competition day: 25/26 November, 2025
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6th competition day: 9/10 December,
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7th competition day: 20/21 January 2026
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8th competition day: January 28, 2026
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Knock -outphase Playoffs: 17/18 February and 24/25, 2026
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Tour of 16: 10/11 and 17/18, 2026
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Quarterfinals: 7/8 and 14/15, 2026
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Semi-final: 28/29 April and 5/6 May 2026
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Final: May 30, 2026, in Budapest
⏱️ Match Times
We will have to wait for competition times. UEFA would rather wait to prevent overlaps from playing overlaps with Europe and Conference League clubs in the same cities. The Europa League draw follows the same method as the Champions League, while in the Conference League each team with six opponents will be confronted, one per pot. In this case, pots 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 are accompanied, so that one match is at home and one way.
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This article was translated into English by artificial intelligence. You can read the original version here.
📸 Valentin Flauraud – AFP or Licensorships
