Man City Champions League, schedule, squad 2025/26

Having secured a place in the Champions League on the final day of last season, Manchester City will be looking to improve on their knockout stage defeat to Real Madrid last season.

City finished third in Premier League during a season of struggle by their stratospheric standards and have arranged another meeting with Madrid in the league phase this time in Europe, as well as a meeting with Erling Haaland’s former club Borussia Dortmund.

The City were knocked out in the 2023/24 quarter-finals on penalties by Madrid, but had won the competition the previous season, beating Inter 1-0 in the final.

See City’s 2025/26 Champions League fixtures, results and squad, as well as an overview of the schedule for the league phase and beyond.

Man City Champions League Results 2025/26

City’s opponents in the league phase include reigning Italian champions Napoli, Turkish champions Galatasaray and Norwegian counterparts Bodo/Glimt.

Monaco finished third in France, Villarreal were fifth in Spain and Dortmund were fourth in Germany, two places behind Leverkusen.

Haaland claimed the Champions League goal of the season with an acrobatic volley in September 2022 at home to Dortmund, who had sold him to City for £85.5m that summer.

All matches start at 20:00 GMT / 15:00 ET / 12:00 PT unless otherwise stated.

Thursday, September 18: Man City 2-0 Napoli

Wednesday, October 1: Monaco 2-2 Man City

Tuesday, October 21: Villarreal 0-2 Man City

Wednesday, November 5: Man City 4-1 Dortmund

Tuesday, November 25: Man City v Leverkusen

Wednesday, December 10: Real Madrid v Man City

Tuesday 20 January: Bodo/Glimt v Man City (5.45pm)

Wednesday, January 28: Man City v Galatasaray

Man City 2025/26 Champions League Squad

City list The Champions League squad is registered until the round of 16 in February 2026, when clubs can register a maximum of three new players within the existing limit of 25.

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Donnarumma, James Trafford, Stefan Ortega Moreno, Marcus Bettinelli

Defenders: John Stone, John Stones, Abbot of Husanow, Ruben Diaz, Gospel and Nathan Ake, Ryan of Nurders.

Midfielders: Rodri, Mateo Kovacic, Niko, Tijani Reynders, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden, Ryan Cerki

Forwards: Savigno, Jeremy Docu, Oscar Bob, Omar Marmusch, Erling Haaland

List B, made up of players born after 1 January 2004 who have been eligible to play for the club for a continuous period of two years after their 15th birthday, can also be drawn up until midnight before each match.

Defender Rico Lewis and left back or midfielder Nico O’Reilly are initially on the B List.

Manchester City Champions League 2025/26 Schedule

After the league phase, the playoffs take place in February and the rest of the pre-final elimination phase takes place between March and early May.

Match 1: September 16-18, 2025

Match 2: 30 September – 1 October 2025

Match 3: 21/22 October 2025

Match 4: 4/5 November 2025

Match 5: 25/26 November 2025

Match 6: 9/10 December 2025

Match 7: 20/21 January 2026

Match 8: January 28, 2026

When is the Champions League knockout stage?

Playoffs in the elimination phase: 17/18 and 24/25 February 2026
Round of 16: 10/11 and 17/18 March 2026
Quarterfinals: 7/8 and 14/15 April 2026
Semifinals: 28/29 April and 5/6 May 2026
Finally: 30 May 2026 (Budapest)

When are the Champions League draws?

Playoffs for the elimination phase: January 30, 2026
Round of 16, quarter-final, semi-final and final: 27 February 2026

2025/26 Champions League format

In a change from the previous group stage format run until 2023/24, each team now plays eight matches in the league stage, all against different opponents.

Four of those games will be home and four away, with opponents determined by four seeding judges divided by ranking.

Teams will play two opponents from each of these pots – one against a team from each pot at home and one away. The results determine the overall ranking in a league.

The top eight countries in the table automatically qualify for the round of 16. Teams finishing ninth to 24th will compete in an elimination play-off to reach the last 16.

Teams finishing 25th or lower are out of Europe for the season.

English teams in the Champions League: Why are there six clubs?

Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea and Newcastle ranked as the top five teams in the Premier League.

There were five places for English teams, as the additional positions are awarded according to the UEFA coefficient rankings, which are based on the nations’ overall performance in European competition for a season.

Spurs qualify as Europa League champions, although they lost 22 and won just 11 of their 2024/25 league games and finished 17th.

When is the Champions League final?

The final will be held on 30 May 2026 at The Puskas Arena in Budapest, which opened in 2019 and is home to the Hungarian national team.

The arena hosted a dramatic 2022/23 Europa League final as Sevilla beat Roma on penalties after a 1-1 draw after extra time.

How to watch Man City in the Champions League: TV channel

TNT Sports and Amazon Prime Video have the rights to broadcast the Champions League live in the UK.

Amazon has first pick of Tuesday’s games, with all other games shown on TNT Sports. BBC Sport also has highlighting rights.

TNT Sports costs £29.99 a month until the end discovery+which includes Eurosport and entertainment and is available on a wide range of devices including smart TVs and games consoles.

A Main video membership is £8.99 per month or £95 per year paid annually, with a half-price offer for fans aged between 18 and 22.

Membership includes unlimited shipping on a huge selection of Amazon items and a range of other benefits such as movies, series, documentaries and photo storage.

How to live stream Man City Champions League matches online

Broadcasters have dedicated apps allowing fans to live stream the games: TNT’s discovery+, the Prime Video app and BBC iPlayer.

The apps are available on a wide range of devices, including smart TVs and game consoles.