Arsenal Champions League draw likely opponents, pots, round dates and teams in play-off battle

Arsenal's Champions League journey was to end in heartbreak last season after a semi-final defeat at the hands of eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain. Mikel Arteta and his Arsenal team will be intent on going one better in the 2025/26 campaign and getting their hands on the trophy that has continued to elude the club.

The Gunners don't have to wait long at all to discover their opponents in this season's competition as the draw takes place at 5pm on Thursday, August 28. All teams involved in the league phase will play a total of eight fixtures (four home, four away) as they look to secure a place in the knockout round.

Arsenal, who are in Pot 2, will be paired against two teams from each of the four pots, thus determining their eight league phase games. The exact dates and times of those games are likely to be confirmed a day of two after the draw, as was the case 12 months ago.

Ahead of Thursday's draw, there are only a couple of positions up for grabs in the 36-team league phase table but they will be decided by the winners of the play-off round ties that come to a conclusion on Wednesday evening. So who exactly can Arsenal come up against in the draw, who else is in Pot 2 and when will the matches take place? football.london runs you through all the key information below:

Champions League play-off round ties

Champions Path

Qarabag (3) vs Ferencvaros (1)

Pafos vs Red Star Belgrade (Pafos win 3-2 on aggregate)

Sturm Graz vs Bodo/Glimt (Bodo/Glimt win 6-2 on aggregate)

Kairat vs Celtic (Kairat win 3-2 on penalties after 0-0 aggregate scoreline)

Copenhagen (1) vs Basel (1)

League Path

Benfica (0) vs Fenerbahce (0)

Club Brugge (3) vs Rangers (1)

Teams already qualified and likely pots

Pot 1: Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, PSG, Inter Milan, Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona.

Pot 2: Arsenal, Bayer Leverkusen, Atletico Madrid, Atalanta, Villarreal, Juventus, Eintracht Frankfurt.

Pot 2/3: Tottenham, PSV.

Pot 3: Ajax, Napoli, Sporting CP, Olympiacos, Slavia Prague, Marseille, Bodo/Glimt.

Pot 4: AS Monaco, Galatasaray, Union SG, Athletic Club, Newcastle United, Pafos, Kairat.

Champions League 2025/26 schedule

League phase

Matchday 1: 16-18 September

Matchday 2: 30 September-1 October

Matchday 3: 21-22 October

Matchday 4: 4-5 November

Matchday 5: 25-26 November

Matchday 6: 9-10 December

Matchday 7: 20-21 January

Matchday 8: 28 January

Knockout phase play-offs

First leg: 17-18 February

Second leg: 24-25 February

Round of 16

First leg: 10-11 March

Second leg: 17-18 March

Quarter-finals

First leg: 7-8 April

Second leg: 14-15 April

Semi-finals

First leg: 28-29 April

Second leg: 5-6 May

Final

Saturday, May 30, 2026 at Puskas Arena, Budapest.

Champions League draw dates

League phase: 28 August

Knockout phase play-offs: 30 January

Round of 16/quarter-finals/semi-finals/final: 27 February

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