Arsenal’s 2024/25 Champions League journey ended in heartbreak but they will be looking to put that disappointment behind them and go all the way next season. Paired against PSG in the semi-finals of the competition, the Gunners lost 1-0 at home in the first leg before a 2-1 defeat in the French capital the following week saw them crash out.
The 3-1 aggregate loss ended their silverware hopes for the season and it is now five years since the Gunners got their hands on a major trophy. Once again finishing second in the Premier League table, the north London club will compete in the Champions League once the league phase commences in September.
Arsenal will be joined in the competition by fellow Premier League sides Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea, Newcastle United and Tottenham. A total of 29 teams have already booked their place in the league phase and the final seven places will be determined by who progresses through the play-off round in late August.
Mikel Arteta’s side will certainly be up there when it comes to the bookmakers’ odds to win the competition and they will be expected to qualify for the knockout phase following the completion of their eight league phase fixtures. The eight teams they will face will all become clear when the draw is made on Thursday, August 28.
Arsenal will be in Pot 2 of the draw, with the likes of Bayer Leverkusen, Atletico Madrid, Atalanta, Villarreal, Juventus and Eintracht Frankfurt joining them in there. Whereas previously teams in the same pot could not come up against each other before the new format of UEFA’s club competitions came into play this season, now clubs are drawn against two teams from each of the four points to establish their league phase fixtures.
Pot 1 of next season’s Champions League is already finalised and it contains Real Madrid, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, PSG, Inter Milan, Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona. Arsenal cannot come up against Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea, however, as they are all from the same association.
That means Arsenal will play two of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, PSG, Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona from Pot 1, with one match at home and the other match away. In this season’s draw, Arsenal came up against Champions League finalists Inter Milan and PSG from Pot 1.
Although there are still three months to go until the draw and a further seven teams to join the league phase, the pots for the 2025/26 campaign are starting to take shape. You can find Arsenal’s potential opponents below:
Here are how the 2025/26 Champions League pots look at present:
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, Benfica (dependent on qualifying), Club Brugge (dependent on qualifying), Rangers (dependent on qualifying), Shakhtar Donetsk (dependent on qualifying).
Pot 2/3: Tottenham, PSV.
Pot 3: Ajax, Napoli, Sporting CP, Olympiacos, Slavia Prague, Marseille.
Pot 4: AS Monaco, Galatasaray, Union SG, Athletic Club. Newcastle United.
