Premier League Teams to Face Two Pot 1 Clubs Each in Champions League 2025-26

UEFA rules for the 2025-26 Champions League require all six non-English Pot 1 teams — Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern, Dortmund, PSG, and Inter — to play two matches against Premier League clubs. With Chelsea, Liverpool, and Man City in Pot 1 and Arsenal, Spurs, and Newcastle in lower pots, this ensures fixture balance across groups.

After the Champions League draw rules for the 2025-26 season were announced, it became clear that Premier League clubs will face a tough challenge in the group stage. There are six English teams qualified — Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea, Newcastle United, and Tottenham Hotspur. UEFA’s rules say that the six non-English clubs in Pot 1 (such as Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Real Madrid) must each play two matches against Premier League teams during the group stage.

This is because teams from the same country cannot be drawn against each other, and there is a limit on how many matches can be played against teams from one league. This means the top non-English clubs will have to face two English teams, which could make their group stage fixtures harder. For example, Barcelona may be drawn against Newcastle United, while Real Madrid might have to play Tottenham Hotspur.

English clubs, on the other hand, will avoid facing each other in the group phase but will frequently come up against some of Europe’s biggest clubs. This reflects how well English teams have done recently in Europe and ensures the group stage will be very competitive for all teams next season.