Having sealed their place in the Champions League on the final day of last season, Manchester City will be looking to improve on their last-16 play-off defeat to Real Madrid last season.
City finished third in the Premier League during a struggling season by their stratospheric standards and have secured 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 eliminated from the quarter-finals of the 2023/24 season on penalties against Madrid, but won the competition the previous season, beating Inter 1-0 in the final.
View City’s fixtures, results and squad for the 2025/26 Champions League, as well as the schedule for the league stage and beyond.
Manchester City Champions League fixtures, results 2025/26
City’s opponents in the league stage include defending Italian champions Napoli, Turkish champions Galatasaray and Norwegian counterparts Bodo/Glimt.
Monaco finished third in France, Villarreal fifth in Spain and Dortmund fourth in Germany, two places behind Leverkusen.
Haaland won 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 noted.
Thursday, September 18: Man City 2-0 Naples
Wednesday, October 1: Monaco 2-2 Man City
Tuesday, October 21: Villarreal 0-2 Manchester City
Wednesday, November 5: Man City-Dortmund 4-1
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 Champions League Squad 2025/26
City’s List A Champions League squad has been registered until the last 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
Registrations for List B, made up of players born after January 1, 2004 who have been able to play for the club for an uninterrupted period of two years since they turned 15, may also be made until midnight before each match.
Defender Rico Lewis and left back/midfielder Nico O’Reilly are initially on List B.
Manchester City Champions League fixtures 2025/26
After the league phase, the play-offs are played in February, and the rest of the knockout phase before the final is played between March and early May.
Day 1: September 16-18, 2025
Day 2: September 30 – October 1, 2025
Day 3: October 21/22, 2025
Day 4: November 4/5, 2025
Day 5: November 25/26, 2025
Day 6: December 9/10, 2025
Day 7: January 20/21, 2026
Day 8: January 28, 2026
When is the Champions League knockout stage?
Knockout stage playoffs: February 17/18 and 24/25, 2026
Round of 16: 10/11 and 17/18 March 2026
Quarter finals: April 7/8 and 14/15, 2026
Semifinals: April 28/29 and May 5/6, 2026
End: May 30, 2026 (Budapest)
When are the Champions League draws?
Knockout Stage Playoffs: January 30, 2026
Round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinal and final: February 27, 2026
Champions League format 2025/26
In a change from the previous group stage format carried out until 2023/24, each team now plays eight games in the league stage, all against different opponents.
Four of those matches will be at home and four away, with opponents determined according to four pots divided by classification.
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 classification of a league.
The top eight teams in the table automatically qualify for the round of 16. The teams that finish ninth to 24th will compete in a two-leg knockout play-off to reach the round of 16.
Teams that finish 25th or lower will be out of Europe for this season.
English teams in the Champions League: Why are there six clubs?
Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea and Newcastle were ranked as the top five teams in the Premier League.
There were five places for English teams because additional positions are awarded according to UEFA’s coefficient ranking, which is based on the overall performance of nations in European competitions over a season.
Spurs qualified as Europa League champions, despite losing 22 and winning just 11 of their 2024/25 league matches and finishing in 17th place.
When is the Champions League final?
The final will take place on May 30, 2026 at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, opened in 2019 and home to the Hungarian national team.
The stadium hosted a dramatic 2022/23 Europa League final, when Sevilla beat Roma on penalties after a 1-1 draw in extra time.
How to watch Man City in the Champions League: TV channel
TNT Sports and Amazon Prime Video have the live streaming rights to the Champions League in the UK.
Amazon has the first pick of Tuesday’s games, and all other games are shown on TNT Sports. BBC sport It also has outstanding rights.
TNT Sports costs £29.99 a month until discovery+which includes Eurosport and entertainment and is available on a wide range of devices including smart TVs and games consoles.
TO main video Membership costs £8.99 per month or £95 per year and is paid annually, with a half-price offer for fans aged 18-22.
Membership includes unlimited delivery on a large selection of Amazon items and a variety of other benefits, such as movies, series, documentaries, and photo storage.
How to live stream Manchester City Champions League games online
Broadcasters have dedicated apps that allow fans to stream games live: 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.
