All the key dates for the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League with Arsenal and Tottenham already confirming their spots.
Sign up to our LondonWorld Today newsletter
Sign up
Thank you for signing up!
Did you know with an ad-lite subscription to LondonWorld, you get 70% fewer ads while viewing the news that matters to you.
Submitting...
Tottenham became the second London club to book their place in the 2025/26 Champions League on Wednesday night. Spurs defeated Manchester United in Bilbao thanks to Brennan Johnson’s first-half goal, and they ended a 17-year trophy drought in the process.
Spurs also secured qualification to next season’s Champions League, and they know they will be joined by Arsenal, who have wrapped up second place in the Premier League with a game to spare. That means we already have two London clubs in next season’s Champions League league phase, and we could yet get three, with Chelsea hoping to secure a top five finish and qualification of their own on Sunday, facing Nottingham Forest for the privilege.
Chelsea know a win will do the trick, while they can also draw, but they would need Aston Villa to draw or lose or Newcastle United to lose. With up to three London clubs in next season’s Champions League, we have rounded up all the key dates for next season’s competition.
When are the league phase matches in the 2025/26 Champions League?
Here are all of the dates for the Champions League league phase in the 2025/26 season. Arsenal, Tottenham and potentially Chelsea will play eight games in all. The dates are as follows:
Matchday 1: 16–18 September 2025
Matchday 2: 30 September–1 October 2025
Matchday 3: 21/22 October 2025
Matchday 4: 4/5 November 2025
Matchday 5: 25/26 November 2025
Matchday 6: 9/10 December 2025
Matchday 7: 20/21 January 2026
Matchday 8: 28 January 2026
Can the London clubs face each other?
No, Arsenal and Tottenham cannot face each other at the league phase of the Champions League, and that also applies to Chelsea if they make it. The earliest teams from the same nation can face each other in the Champions League is the Round of 16.
When is the 2025/26 Champions League knockout phase?
For those teams who progress to the Champions League knockout phase next season, the following dates will need to be added to their schedules, depending on how far they get:
Knockout phase play-offs: 17/18 & 24/25 February 2026
Round of 16: 10/11 & 17/18 March 2026
Quarter-finals: 7/8 & 14/15 April 2026
Semi-finals: 28/29 April & 5/6 May 2026
Final: 30 May 2026 (Budapest)
When are the 2025/26 Champions League draws?
For the English clubs who secure qualification, and we already know that includes Arsenal and Tottenham, the following draw dates apply:
League phase: 28 August 2025
Knockout phase play-offs: 30 January 2026
Round of 16, quarter-final, semi-final and final: 27 February 2026
Where is the Champions League final in 2026?
The 2026 Champions League final will take place in Hungary’s Puskás Arena. The stadium usually holds up to 67,215 people, though the record attendance is 65,114. As well as Euro 2020 fixtures, the stadium previously held the 2023 UEFA Europa League final between Sevilla and AS Roma.