Champions League Calendar: FC Barcelona's path for the 25/26 league phase
Published New:30/08/2025 - 17:50h
Updated New:1/09/2025 - 05:06h
Can Barça overcome PSG and Chelsea? The complete 25/26 Champions League schedule revealed
The UEFA Champions League 2025/26 already has its official calendar. Almost 48 hours after the draw held on Thursday, August 28 in Monaco, the route that the 36 teams of the league phase will travel, with eight matchdays and 144 matches to define the eight teams that advance directly to the round of 16 and the 16 that will play the play-offs in February, has been revealed.
For FC Barcelona, the journey begins again as a visitor. The club asked UEFA to debut away from home to give a couple of extra weeks to the remodeling works of the Spotify Camp Nou and, finally, the team led by Hansi Flick will debut visiting Newcastle on Thursday, September 18 at St James Park.
Official schedule of FC Barcelona in the 25/26 Champions League league phase
- Newcastle vs FC Barcelona (matchday 1): Thursday, September 18 at St. James Park at 21:00 CEST.
- FC Barcelona vs Paris Saint-Germain (matchday 2): Wednesday, October 1 in Catalonia* at 21:00 CEST.
- FC Barcelona vs Olympiacos (matchday 3): Tuesday, October 21 in Catalonia* at 18:45 CEST.
- Club Brugge vs FC Barcelona (matchday 4): Wednesday, November 5 at the Jan Breydel Stadium at 21:00 CEST.
- Chelsea FC vs FC Barcelona (matchday 5): Tuesday, November 25 at Stamford Bridge at 21:00 CEST.
- FC Barcelona vs Eintracht Frankfurt (matchday 6): Tuesday, December 9 in Catalonia* at 21:00 CEST.
- Slavia Prague vs FC Barcelona (matchday 7): Wednesday, January 21 at the Fortuna Arena at 21:00 CEST.
- FC Barcelona vs Copenhagen (matchday 8): Wednesday, January 28 in Catalonia* at 21:00 CEST**.
| *Barça, in principle, plans to play its home matches at the Spotify Camp Nou, as long as the City Council and UEFA approve its opening. Otherwise, the team will return to the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium in Montjuïc. |
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**All matches of matchday 8 are played on the same day and at the same time. |
Affordable schedule on paper for Barça in the league phase
In this way, FC Barcelona will have a schedule, in principle, affordable to ensure their direct quota to the round of 16 as part of the TOP-8. In 24/25, the 'culés' were second in the general table with 19 points, two less than Liverpool (21) after adding six wins, one draw and two defeats.
The team debuted falling in Monaco (2-1), but defeated consecutively Young Boys (5-0), Bayern (4-1), Red Star (2-5), Brest (3-0), Dortmund (2-3) and Benfica (4-5) to ensure their qualification. In the last matchday, the draw against Atalanta (2-2) was anecdotal.
In 25/26, the schedule is very similar for Barça in terms of the route to follow: debut away from home, two consecutive matches at home, another two in a row as a visitor, back to Catalonia to close 2026 and two more matches in January, closing the league in Catalonia.
The matches, in theory more complicated for Hansi Flick's team will be in matchdays 1, 2 and 5, against Newcastle, PSG and Chelsea. Two visits to England and a duel in Barcelona against the current champion. The other five rivals are clearly inferior to the 'culés', although the visit to Bruges and the visit of Eintracht will surely be uncomfortable.
Below, we review the eight matches of Barça in the 25/26 Champions League league phase:
Matchday 1: Newcastle vs Barça (18/09/25)
Barça debuts visiting St. James Park, a stadium where they played for the last time in the second group stage of 2002/03. The Catalans won 0-2 with goals from Patrick Kluivert and Thiago Motta. This year, the 'magpies' return to the Champions League with the inevitable absence of Alexander Isak, who will go to Liverpool.
Matchday 2: Barça vs PSG (01/10/25)
The duel, in theory, the most dangerous of the league will be the debut at home against PSG. Luis Enrique's team eliminated Barça in the quarterfinals of 23/24 and defend their title as champion of Europe with a squad with fewer stars, but much more solid. Hopefully, the Spotify Camp Nou will host its first Champions League match since November 2022.
Matchday 3: Barça vs Olympiacos (21/10/25)
The Greek team visited the Camp Nou for the first and only time in the group stage of 2017/18. The 'culés', with Ernesto Valverde on the bench, added the three points (3-1) with goals from Leo Messi, Lucas Digne and Gerard Piqué. Olympiacos returns to the Champions League as champion of their league, looking to surprise by getting into the round of 16.
Matchday 4: Bruges vs Barça (05/11/25)
Bruges and Barça only met in the first group stage of 2002/03. After a suffered victory in the initial matchday in Catalonia (3-2), the 'culés' also won in Belgium with a solitary goal from the Argentine Juan Román Riquelme (0-1). This season, already without Ferrán Jutglà in their squad, Nicky Hayen's team are one of those called to fight in the lower zone of the standings.
Matchday 5: Chelsea vs Barça (25/11/25)
The match with the most history of the league will be against Chelsea. Both teams have met in 14 opportunities, with 4 wins per side and 6 draws. The last crossing between both was in the round of 16 of 17/18, with Barça surpassing the global by 4-1. At Stamford Bridge, the 'blues' only fell once in seven opportunities against Barça (1-2 in the first leg of the round of 16 of 05/06).
Matchday 6. Barça vs Eintracht (09/12/25)
Another match with a recent memory in the retina of the 'culé' fan. Barça and Eintracht have only met once in European competitions. It was in the quarterfinals of the Europa League 21/22, with victory for the Germans by 4-3 on aggregate. The tie was defined in Camp Nou, with white party after a day to forget for those of Xavi Hernández (2-3).
Matchday 7: Slavia Prague vs Barça (21/01/26)
Barça will return to Prague for the first time since 2019/20. That season, the 'azulgrana' team rescued a valuable victory (1-2) with goals from Leo Messi and Olayinka (own goal). In Catalonia, the Czechs would add a draw (0-0). This year, Jindrich Trpisovský's team secured their quota in the league as champion of their league.
Matchday 8: Barça vs Copenhagen (28/01/26)
Finally, FC Barcelona will close the league phase receiving Copenhagen, a rival that they only faced in the group stage of 2010/11. In Camp Nou, those of Pep Guardiola won with less authority than expected (2-0) with goals from Leo Messi. The duel in Denmark would end tied without goals. This season, the Danes got into the league after eliminating Basel (3-1 on aggregate).
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