Man City’s 2025/26 Champions League Journey: Can They Defy the Odds and Claim Glory?

Manchester City’s journey to the 2025/26 Champions League kicks off with a blend of redemption and high stakes. After clinching their spot on the very last day of last season, the Cityzens are hungry to flip the script on last year’s heartbreak—a cagey knockout play-off loss to the ever-formidable Real Madrid. Finishing third in the Premier League was a thorn in their side, considering the sky-high standards they’ve set themselves over the years. Now, they face a familiar face in the league phase: Madrid again. Throw in a clash with Erling Haaland’s old stomping ground, Borussia Dortmund, and the European nights are set to be electric. Having tasted glory just a season ago with that tight 1-0 victory over Inter, City’s squad and fixtures offer a tantalizing mix of challenge and opportunity. Stick around as we dive deep into their 2025/26 campaign—fixtures, results, the squad, and what lies ahead for the UK’s football behemoths. LEARN MORE.

Having sealed their place in the Champions League on the final day of last season, Manchester City will aim to improve upon their knockout stage play-off defeat to Real Madrid last season.

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

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

Check out City’s fixtures, results and squad for the 2025/26 Champions League, as well as a look at the schedule for the league phase and beyond.

Man City Football Club manager Pep Guardiola

Table of Contents

Man City Champions League fixtures, results 2025/26

City’s opponents in the league phase include reigning Italian champions Napoli, Turkish titlists Galatasaray and their 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 won the Champions League goal of the season for an acrobatic volley in September 2022 at home to Dortmund, who had sold him to City for £85.5 million that summer.

All fixtures 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 vs Leverkusen

Wednesday, December 10: Real Madrid vs Man City

Tuesday, January 20: Bodo/Glimt vs Man City (17:45)

Wednesday January 28: Man City vs Galatasaray

Manchester City midfielder Rodri won the Ballon d'Or in 2024

Man City Champions League squad 2025/26

City’s List A Champions League squad has been 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: Matheus Nunes, John Stones, Abdukodir Khusanov, Ruben Dias, Josko Gvardiol, Nathan Ake, Rayan Ait-Nouri

Midfielders: Rodri, Mateo Kovacic, Nico, Tijjani Reijnders, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden, Rayan Cherki

Forwards: Savinho, Jeremy Doku, Oscar Bobb, Omar Marmoush, Erling Haaland

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

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

Footballer Erling Haaland playing football for Man City

Manchester City Champions League schedule 2025/26

After the league phase, the play-offs are held in February, with the rest of the knockout stage before the final held between March and early May.

Matchday 1: September 16-18 2025

Matchday 2: September 30 – October 1 2025

Matchday 3: October 21/22 2025

Matchday 4: November 4/5 2025

Matchday 5: November 25/26 2025

Matchday 6: December 9/10 2025

Matchday 7: January 20/21 2026

Matchday 8: January 28 2026

When is the Champions League knockout phase?

Knockout phase play-offs: February 17/18 & 24/25 2026
Round of 16: March 10/11 & 17/18 2026
Quarter-finals: April 7/8 & 14/15 2026
Semi-finals: April 28/29 and May 5/6 2026
Final: May 30 2026 (Budapest)

When are the Champions League draws?

Knockout phase play-offs: January 30 2026
Round of 16, quarter-final, semi-final and final: February 27 2026

Champions League 2025/26 format

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

Four of those matches will be at home and four away, with the opponents determined according to four seeding pots split by rankings.

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

The top eight sides in the table qualify automatically for the round of 16. The teams finishing in ninth to 24th will compete in a two-legged knockout phase play-off to reach the last 16.

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

A photo of the Manchester City Football Club badge

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

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

There were five places for English teams because extra positions are awarded according to Uefa’s co-efficient rankings, which are based on the overall performances of nations across European competition over a season.

Spurs qualified as Europa League champions, despite losing 22 and winning only 11 of their 2024/25 league games and finishing 17th.

When is the Champions League final?

The final will take place on May 30 2026 at the The Puskas Arena in Budapest, which opened in 2019 and is home to Hungary’s national team.

The arena hosted a dramatic 2022/23 Europa League final, when Sevilla beat Roma on penalties following 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 live broadcast rights to the Champions League in the UK.

Amazon have first pick of the Tuesday games, with all the other matches shown on TNT Sports. BBC Sport also has highlights rights.

TNT Sports costs £29.99 a month through discovery+, which includes Eurosport and entertainment and is available on a vast range of devices including smart TVs and gaming consoles.

A Prime 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 delivery on a huge selection of Amazon items and a range of other perks such as movies, series, documentaries and photo storage.