Champions League 2025/26 play-offs start Tuesday, key info here

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 Puskás Aréna 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 - Žalgiris (LTU) 🆚 Hamrun Spartans FC (MLT) - Match 1

8/7 and 15/7 - KuPS Kuopio (FIN) 🆚 FC Milsami Orhei (MDA) - Match 2

8/7 and 15/7 - The New Saints (WAL) 🆚 KF Shkëndija (MKD) - Match 3

8/7 and 15/7 - FC Iberia 1999 Tbilisi (GEO) 🆚 Malmö (SWE) - Match 4

8/7 and 15/7 - FC Levadia Tallinn (EST) 🆚 FC RFS (LVA) - Match 5

8/7 and 15/7 - FC Drita (KOS) 🆚 Differdange (LUX) - Match 6

8/7 and 15/7 - Víkingur (FRO) 🆚 Lincoln Red Imps (GIB) - Match 7

8/7 and 15/7 - KF Egnatia (ALB) 🆚 Breidablik (ISL) - Match 8

9/7 and 16/7 - Shelbourne (IRL) 🆚 Linfield FC (NIR) - Match 9

9/7 and 15/7 - Fotbal Club FCSB (ROU) 🆚 Inter Club d'Escaldes (AND) - Match 10

8/7 and 15/7 - Virtus AC (SMR) 🆚 HŠK Zrinjski (BIH) - Match 11

8/7 and 15/7 - Olimpija Ljubljana (SVN) 🆚 FC Kairat Almaty (KAZ) - Match 12

8/7 and 15/7 - FC Noah (ARM) 🆚 FK Budućnost Podgorica (MNE) - Match 13

9/7 and 16/7 - Ludogorets (BUL) 🆚 Dinamo-Minsk (BLR) - Match 14

2nd Phase Scheduled Duels:

Sixteen teams have already secured spots in the second preliminary phase.

Winner of Match 1 🆚 Winner of Match 4

Winner of Match 1 🆚 Dínamo de Kiev 🇺🇦

Pafos 🇨🇾 🆚 Maccabi Tel Aviv 🇮🇱

Winner of Match 7 🆚 Estrela Vermelha 🇷🇸

Winner of Match 13 🆚 Ferencváros 🇭🇺

Lech Poznań 🇵🇱 🆚 Winner of Match 8

Winner of Match 6 🆚 Copenhagen 🇩🇰

Rijeka 🇭🇷 🆚 Winner of Match 14

Winner of Match 3 🆚 Winner of Match 10

Slovan Bratislava 🇸🇰 🆚 Winner of Match 11

Winner of Match 9 🆚 Qarabağ 🇦🇿

Winner of Match 2 🆚 Winner of Match 12

Brann 🇳🇴 🆚 Salzburg 🇦🇹

Viktoria Plzen 🇨🇿 🆚 Servette 🇨🇭

Rangers 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🆚 Panathinaikos 🇬🇷

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 🇵🇹

Brugge 🇧🇪

Feyenoord 🇳🇱

Fenerbahçe 🇹🇷

Nice 🇫🇷

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.

Bodø/Glimt 🇳🇴

Celtic 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Basel 🇨🇭

Sturm Graz 🇦🇹

Duels Prohibited due to Political and/or Historical Reasons*:

Teams from Armenia 🆚 teams from Azerbaijan

Teams from Gibraltar 🆚 teams from Spain

Teams from Kosovo 🆚 teams from Bosnia-Herzegovina

Teams from Kosovo 🆚 teams from Serbia

Teams from Ukraine 🆚 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 🇪🇸

Atlético de Madrid 🇪🇸

Barcelona 🇪🇸

Real Madrid 🇪🇸

Villarreal 🇪🇸

Arsenal 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Chelsea 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Liverpool 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Manchester City 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Newcastle 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Tottenham 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Atalanta 🇮🇹

Inter de Milão 🇮🇹

Juventus 🇮🇹

Napoli 🇮🇹

Bayern de Munique 🇩🇪

Bayer Leverkusen 🇩🇪

Borussia Dortmund 🇩🇪

Eintracht Frankfurt 🇩🇪

Marseille 🇫🇷

Monaco 🇫🇷

PSG 🇫🇷

Sporting 🇵🇹

Ajax 🇳🇱

Galatasaray 🇹🇷

Olympiacos 🇬🇷

PSV 🇳🇱

Slavia Praga 🇸🇰

Union Saint-Gilloise 🇧🇪

📸 Justin Setterfield - 2025 Getty Images