Champions League Pots for 2025-26 Draw Set Ahead of League Phase Schedule Release

The field for the 2025-26 Champions League is set with Wednesday's playoff round drawing to a close.

Qarabağ FK, FC Copenhagen, Benfica and Club Brugge claimed the final four spots.

The 36 clubs in the group phase are split into four pots ahead of Thursday's draw:

League Phase Pots

Pot 1

Paris Saint-Germain

Real Madrid

Manchester City

Bayern Munich

Liverpool

Inter Milan

Chelsea

Borussia Dortmund

Barcelona

Pot 2

Arsenal

Bayer Leverkusen

Atlético Madrid

Benfica

Atalanta

Villarreal

Juventus

Eintracht Frankfurt

Pot 3

Tottenham Hotspur

PSV

Ajax

Napoli

Sporting CP

Olympiacos

Slavia Praha

Bodø/Glimt

Olympique Marseille

Pot 4

FC Copenhagen

AS Monaco

Union St.-Gilloise

Qarabağ FK

Athletic Club

Newcastle

Pafos

Kairat Almaty

This is the second year of UEFA adopting the "Swiss model" in place of the old group stage.

Under the league phase format, each team plays eight matches and the opponents are split evenly from the four groups. Teams from the same country can't be drawn against one another, either.

Early critics of the "Swiss model" wondered whether this was a way for the established powers to further entrench their positions. The top eight finishers automatically advance to the round of 16, while the next 16 compete in a playoff.

That seemingly lessened the odds of an underdog earning a spot in the knockout rounds.

But the 2024-25 Champions League provided plenty of drama all the way up to the final matchday in the league phase, and some heavy hitters were then dispatched in the playoff. Manchester City, Juventus and AC Milan saw their UCL dreams end before the round of 16.

Paris Saint-Germain, meanwhile, needed to beat Stuttgart in its last match just to qualify for the playoff en route to lifting the Champions League trophy.

For now, the "Swiss model" looks like a nice change to a tournament that had grown a bit stale.

The league phase kicks off Sept. 16 and concludes Jan. 28. From there, the playoffs will be staged on Feb. 17/18 and 24/25 before the round of 16 in March.

All roads lead to Budapest's Puskás Aréna on May 30 for the final.