Champions League 2025-26 Soccer

[Crabtree]

It is only 52 days since Paris St-Germain demolished Inter Milan at the Allianz Arena in front of the eyes of the world - but the vibe is very different as the new campaign kicks off - this season's Champions League competition has already started.

England's six representatives - Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Newcastle and Tottenham - go straight into the league phase.

Rangers enter the Champions League tonight at the second qualifying round against Panathinaikos. Celtic start off at the play-off round.

 

[David76]

Second Qualifying Round 2nd Leg Results
Champions Path
FC Kairat Almaty (KAZ) 3 V 0 KuPS Kuopio (FIN) - Agg (3-2)
FC Dynamo Kyiv (UKR) 3 V 0 Hamrun Spartans FC (MLT) - Agg (6-0)
FC Drita (KOS) 0 V 1 FC Copenhagen (DEN) - Agg (0-3)
FK Crvena Zvezda (SRB) 5 V 1 Lincoln Red Imps FC (GIB) - Agg (6-1)
HŠK Zrinjski Mostar (BIH) 2 V 2 ŠK Slovan Bratislava (SVK) - Agg (2-6)
Qarabağ FK (AZE) 1 V 0 Shelbourne FC (IRL) - Agg (4-0)
Malmö FF (SWE) 1 V 0 FC RFS (LVA) - Agg (5-1)
Fotbal Club FCSB (ROU) 1 V 2 KF Shkëndija (MKD) - Agg (1-3)
Ferencvárosi TC (HUN) 4 V 3 FC Noah (ARM) - Agg (6-4)
PFC Ludogorets 1945 (BUL) 3 V 1 HNK Rijeka (CRO) AET - Agg (3-1)
Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC (ISR) 0 V 1 Pafos FC (CYP) - Agg (1-2)
Breidablik (ISL) 0 V 1 KKS Lech Poznań (POL) - Agg (1-8)

League Path
Panathinaikos FC (GRE) 1 V 1 Rangers FC (SCO) - Agg (1-3)
FC Salzburg (AUT) 1 V 1 SK Brann (NOR) - Agg (5-2)
Servette FC (SUI) 1 V 3 FC Viktoria Plzeň (CZE) - Agg (2-3)

 

[David76]

Third Qualifying Round 1st Leg Results
Champions Path
Malmö FF (SWE) 0 V 0 F.C. Copenhagen (DEN)
FC Dynamo Kyiv (UKR) 0 V 1 Pafos FC (CYP)
KF Shkëndija (MKD) 0 V 1 Qarabağ FK (AZE)
FC Kairat Almaty (KAZ) 1 V 0 ŠK Slovan Bratislava (SVK)
PFC Ludogorets 1945 (BUL) 0 V 0 Ferencvárosi TC (HUN)
KKS Lech Poznań (POL) 1 V 3 FK Crvena Zvezda (SRB)

League Path
Rangers FC (SCO) 3 V 0 FC Viktoria Plzeň (CZE)
FC Salzburg (AUT) 0 V 1 Club Brugge KV (BEL)
Feyenoord (NED) 2 V 1 Fenerbahçe SK (TUR)
OGC Nice (FRA) 0 V 2 SL Benfica (POR)

Third Qualifying Round 2nd Legs
Tuesday 12th August
Champions Path
Qarabağ FK (AZE) V KF Shkëndija (MKD) - (Agg 1-0) - (17:00)
F.C. Copenhagen (DEN) V Malmö FF (SWE) - (Agg 0-0) - (18:00)
Pafos FC (CYP) V FC Dynamo Kyiv (UKR) - (Agg 1-0) - (18:00)
Ferencvárosi TC (HUN) V PFC Ludogorets 1945 (BUL) - (Agg 0-0) - (19:15)
ŠK Slovan Bratislava (SVK) V FC Kairat Almaty (KAZ) - (Agg 0-1) - (19:15)
FK Crvena Zvezda (SRB) V KKS Lech Poznań (POL) - (Agg 3-1) - (20:00)

League Path
FC Viktoria Plzeň (CZE) V Rangers FC (SCO) - (Agg 0-3) - (18:00)
Fenerbahçe SK (TUR) V Feyenoord (NED) - (Agg 1-2) - (18:00)
Club Brugge KV (BEL) V FC Salzburg (AUT) - (Agg 1-0) - (18:30)
SL Benfica (POR) V OGC Nice (FRA) - (Agg 2-0) - (20:00)

 

[David76]

A good result for Rangers that should see them progress.

 

[David76]

Third Qualifying Round 2nd Leg Results
Champions Path
Qarabağ FK (AZE) 5 V 1 KF Shkëndija (MKD) - (Agg 6-1)
F.C. Copenhagen (DEN) 5 V 0 Malmö FF (SWE) - (Agg 5-0)
Pafos FC (CYP) 2 V 0 FC Dynamo Kyiv (UKR) - (Agg 3-0)
Ferencvárosi TC (HUN) 3 V 0 PFC Ludogorets 1945 (BUL) - (Agg 3-0)
ŠK Slovan Bratislava (SVK) 1 V 0 FC Kairat Almaty (KAZ) AET - (Agg 1-1) FC Kairat Almaty (KAZ) win on pens 4-3
FK Crvena Zvezda (SRB) 1 V 1 KKS Lech Poznań (POL) - (Agg 4-2)

League Path
FC Viktoria Plzeň (CZE) 2 V 1 Rangers FC (SCO) - (Agg 2-4)
Fenerbahçe SK (TUR) 5 V 2 Feyenoord (NED) - (Agg 6-4)
Club Brugge KV (BEL) 3 V 2 FC Salzburg (AUT) - (Agg 4-2)
SL Benfica (POR) 2 V 0 OGC Nice (FRA) - (Agg 4-0)

 

[David76]

Play-off Round 1st Legs
Tuesday 19th August
Champions Path
Ferencvárosi TC (HUN) V Qarabağ FK (AZE) - (20:00) - Live on TNT Sport 1
FK Crvena Zvezda (SRB) V Pafos FC (CYP) - (20:00) - Live on TNT Sport 2

League Path
Rangers FC (SCO) V Club Brugge KV (BEL) - (20:00) Live on Amazon / Premier Sports 1

Wednesday 20th August
Champions Path
Celtic FC (SCO) V FC Kairat Almaty (KAZ) - (20:00) - Live on TNT Sport 1 / Premier Sports 1
FC Basel 1893 (SUI) V F.C. Copenhagen (DEN) - (20:00) - Live on TNT Sport 3
FK Bodø/Glimt (NOR) V SK Sturm Graz (AUT) - (20:00) - Live on TNT Sport 5

League Path
Fenerbahçe SK (TUR) V SL Benfica (POR) - (20:00) - Live on TNT Sport 2

 

[Tom]

Celtic out of the Champions League, what a major upset and Kairat deserved it.

Celtic were just awful. I cannot get over how bad they were over both games. That is a devastating loss from a financial point of view.

 

[Dylan]

Disaster for Celtic. They can't have any excuses, Kairat were the better team. Once again Rodgers is poor in Europe.

Scottish coefficients must be getting worse and worse.

 

[Bingo]

Two embarrassing results for the Glasgow clubs. But the Europa League surely suits them more. They have a better chance of making it far there. Celtic were good in the Champions League last year, but had to face Bayern in that thriller KO. Rangers reached a final in the Europa League a few years ago. But still the financial hit from missing the CL will be huge.

 

[David76]

The draw for the group stage is currently taking place. Here's who the six Premier League teams will face

Chelsea will play Barcelona (home), Bayern Munich (away), Benfica (home), Atalanta (away), Ajax (home), Napoli (away), Pafos (home) and Qarabag (away)

Liverpool will play: Real Madrid (home), Inter Milan (away), Atletico Madrid (home), Eintracht Frankfurt (away), PSV Eindhoven (home), Marseille (away), Qarabag (home) and Galatasaray (away)

Manchester City will play: Borussia Dortmund (home), Real Madrid (away), Bayer Leverkusen (home), Villarreal (away), Napoli (home), Bodo/Glimt (away), Galatasaray (home) and Monaco (away).

Arsenal will play: Bayern Munich (home), Inter Milan (away), Atletico Madrid (home), Club Brugge (away), Olympiacos (home), Slavia Prague (away), Kairat Almaty (home) and Athletic Bilbao (away).

Tottenham will meet: Borussia Dortmund (home), Paris St-Germain (away), Villarreal (home), Eintracht Frankfurt (away), Slavia Prague (home), Bodo/Glimt (away), Copenhagen (home) and Monaco (away).

Newcastle will play: Barcelona (home), Paris St-Germain (away), Benfica (home), Bayer Leverkusen (away), PSV Eindhoven (home), Marseille (away), Athletic Bilbao (home) and Union SG (away).