2025/26 Champions League: Every team that has already qualified

Defending their crown

Defending their crown, Each team vying for glory, Other nations, The last of automatic qualifiers, A 53-team battle, Third qualifying round, Second qualifying round, Second-placed teams, First qualifying round

Paris Saint-Germain will enter the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League looking to defend their crown for the first time in the club's history after their 4-0 win over Inter Milan in Munich in May.

Each team vying for glory

Defending their crown, Each team vying for glory, Other nations, The last of automatic qualifiers, A 53-team battle, Third qualifying round, Second qualifying round, Second-placed teams, First qualifying round

But who are the teams they will have to beat? Here, we take a look at each team vying for glory in this upcoming season's competition.

England

Defending their crown, Each team vying for glory, Other nations, The last of automatic qualifiers, A 53-team battle, Third qualifying round, Second qualifying round, Second-placed teams, First qualifying round

Due to their excellent performances on the continent across recent seasons, the Premier League secured five automatic Champions League places, with Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea and Newcastle United finishing in the top five. Tottenham Hotspur secured a sixth spot after beating Manchester United in the Europa League final.

Spain

Defending their crown, Each team vying for glory, Other nations, The last of automatic qualifiers, A 53-team battle, Third qualifying round, Second qualifying round, Second-placed teams, First qualifying round

Two leagues are awarded a European Performance Spot, and, like England, La Liga also got one. Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, Athletic Club and Villarreal will join champions Barcelona. Fifth-placed Villarreal finished ten points ahead of Real Betis in sixth.

Italy

Defending their crown, Each team vying for glory, Other nations, The last of automatic qualifiers, A 53-team battle, Third qualifying round, Second qualifying round, Second-placed teams, First qualifying round

In Serie A, Juventus nabbed fourth place by one point to join champions Napoli, Atalanta, and Champions League finalists Inter Milan in next year's competition.

Germany

Defending their crown, Each team vying for glory, Other nations, The last of automatic qualifiers, A 53-team battle, Third qualifying round, Second qualifying round, Second-placed teams, First qualifying round

Erik ten Hag will lead Bayer Leverkusen into the Champions League next season, joining Bayern Munich, Eintracht Frankfurt and 2024 finalists Borussia Dortmund. The former champions scraped into fourth spot by two points.

France

Defending their crown, Each team vying for glory, Other nations, The last of automatic qualifiers, A 53-team battle, Third qualifying round, Second qualifying round, Second-placed teams, First qualifying round

The last of the top five major leagues is France, which has three confirmed qualifiers for the Champions League next season. PSG will be joined by Roberto De Zerbi's Marseille and Monaco, who pipped Nice and Lille by a point to finish third.

Other nations

Defending their crown, Each team vying for glory, Other nations, The last of automatic qualifiers, A 53-team battle, Third qualifying round, Second qualifying round, Second-placed teams, First qualifying round

The Netherlands will have the familiar faces of PSV Eindhoven and Ajax in the competition, while five other European nations have one automatic qualifier for the league phase.

The last of automatic qualifiers

Defending their crown, Each team vying for glory, Other nations, The last of automatic qualifiers, A 53-team battle, Third qualifying round, Second qualifying round, Second-placed teams, First qualifying round

Portugal, Belgium, Turkey, the Czech Republic and Greece's champions have all automatically qualified, with Sporting Lisbon, Union Saint-Gilloise, Galatasaray, Slavia Prague and Olympiacos being the last confirmed teams to join the league phase automatically.

A 53-team battle

Defending their crown, Each team vying for glory, Other nations, The last of automatic qualifiers, A 53-team battle, Third qualifying round, Second qualifying round, Second-placed teams, First qualifying round

An incredible 53 teams will compete in qualifying for the final seven spots in the league phase of the Champions League, with teams starting in different rounds depending on their league or final league position.

Third qualifying round

Defending their crown, Each team vying for glory, Other nations, The last of automatic qualifiers, A 53-team battle, Third qualifying round, Second qualifying round, Second-placed teams, First qualifying round

Meanwhile, three league champions will feature in the third qualifying round: Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine), Red Star Belgrade (Serbia) and Rijeka (Croatia). From other leagues, 4th-placed Nice (France) will join 3rd-placed Feyenoord (Netherlands), 2nd-placed Benfica (Portugal), 2nd-placed Club Brugge (Belgium) and 2nd-placed Fenerbahce (Turkey) at this stage.

Second qualifying round

Defending their crown, Each team vying for glory, Other nations, The last of automatic qualifiers, A 53-team battle, Third qualifying round, Second qualifying round, Second-placed teams, First qualifying round

Seven league champions join the competition at the second qualifying round: Copenhagen (Denmark), Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel), Lech Poznań (Poland), Pafos (Cyprus), Ferencváros (Hungary), Qarabağ (Azerbaijan) and Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia).

Second-placed teams

Defending their crown, Each team vying for glory, Other nations, The last of automatic qualifiers, A 53-team battle, Third qualifying round, Second qualifying round, Second-placed teams, First qualifying round

Six other teams will join them at this stage: second-placed teams Viktoria Plzeň (Czechia), Red Bull Salzburg (Austria), Rangers (Scotland), Brann (Norway), Servette (Switzerland) and Panathinaikos (Greece).

First qualifying round

Defending their crown, Each team vying for glory, Other nations, The last of automatic qualifiers, A 53-team battle, Third qualifying round, Second qualifying round, Second-placed teams, First qualifying round

The remaining 28 countries that haven't been featured so far had their league champions featured in the first qualifying round. The standout teams in this round were Swedish winners Malmö, Romanian champions Steaua Bucharest and Bulgarian winners Ludogorets Razgrad. All of them came through unscathed.

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