Tottenham is the latest team to have joined Liverpool in next season’s Champions League after beating Manchester United in the Europa League final.
A nervy final in Bilbao saw Brennan Johnson open the scoring with a scrappy goal in the first half. Spurs had Micky van de Ven to thank in the second half as his remarkable goal line clearance denied Rasmus Hojlund. Despite being penned in their own half for much of the rest of the game, Ange Postecoglou’s side managed to hold on for the victory.
Their victory means they have booked their place in next season’s Champions League, despite a poor Premier League campaign that will see them finish just above the relegation zone.
They do of course join Liverpool again at Europe’s top table, with Arne Slot’s team the first English side to have secured their spot in next season’s competition, having run away with the league title.
The Reds will be targeting a seventh European Cup as they look to better their last-16 exit at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain this season, and already they know a lot of their potential opponents.
2025/26 Champions League confirmed teams
So far, 24 teams of the 36 teams that will make up next season’s League Phase have been confirmed. Tottenham is the latest to be confirmed, joining fellow Premier League sides Liverpool and Arsenal.
All five spots from Spain have been decided, with Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Athletic Bilbao and Villarreal all confirmed. They’re joined by four German teams in Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Dortmund.
(Image: Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Three of the four Italian places have been decided, with this year’s Champions League finalist Inter Milan joined by Napoli and Atalanta.
PSG, Marseille and Monaco all qualify from France, alongside PSV Eindhoven and Ajax from the Netherlands, Sporting CP from Portugal, Galatasaray from Turkey, Slavia Prague from Czechia, and Olympiacos from Greece.
Who else can qualify?
Three more teams from England will earn places in the competition, with those spots set to be decided on the final day of the campaign on Sunday. Manchester City, Newcastle, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest are the sides set to fight it out for those remaining places.
One of Juventus, Roma or Lazio will claim Italy’s final spot. Meanwhile, Belgium’s sole automatic spot will go to one of Union Saint-Gilloise or Club Brugge, with the runner-up set to go into the third qualifying round.
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The remaining seven places will be decided by a play-off round, with three teams having already booked their place at that stage – Celtic from Scotland, Basel from Switzerland, and Bodo/Glimt from Norway. Plenty more big names will have to go the long way to get into the Champions League, with the likes of Nice, Feyenoord, Benfica and Fenerbahce all facing the qualifying rounds.
When does the League Phase draw take place?
Liverpool will find out its opponents in next season’s League Phase when the draw takes place on August 28 in Monaco.
The 36 teams involved will be divided into four pots of nine based on their UEFA club coefficient. The winners of this season’s Champions League – one of Inter Milan or PSG – will be the only side guaranteed to be in pot one.
Liverpool is likely to be among the top seeds in the competition – indeed, out of the 24 teams currently qualified, the Reds are ranked third in terms of their coefficient.
In any case, Arne Slot and his men will know they can’t face any of the other five English sides that will be involved until the knockout stages, which does potentially make it more likely they will face more of Europe’s big guns next season.
