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Champions of Turkish Super Lig 2024-2025 season, Galatasaray, will participate in the 2025–26 UEFA Champions League from the fourth pot, as the 36 teams prepare for Thursday’s league-stage draw in Monaco at 07.00 p.m. local time (GMT+3).
Entering from the lowest-ranked pot, Galatasaray is set to face two opponents from each of the four seeding pots. The Istanbul side will host one team at home in RAMS Park and travel away to another from each pot.
The Istanbul club enters the competition in a demanding position, as being placed in Pot 4 means Galatasaray will encounter some of Europe’s most powerful teams in the early stage of the tournament.
For Galatasaray, this ensures a series of matches against clubs from the top three pots, such as Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, or Manchester City from Pot 1; Arsenal, Juventus, or Atletico Madrid from Pot 2; and Tottenham, Napoli, or Ajax from Pot 3. Each of these encounters will test the team’s depth and consistency across the autumn and winter calendar.
Galatasaray will play four of their eight league-stage matches at their home stadium, RAMS Park, in Istanbul. The venue has long been regarded as one of the most intense atmospheres in European football, something the club hopes to use to its advantage. For every pot, Galatasaray will host one opponent in Türkiye and travel away to another.
Pot 1 features the defending champions and perennial favorites such as Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Chelsea, and Barcelona alongside Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Inter, and Borussia Dortmund.
Pot 2 includes Bayer Leverkusen, Benfica, Atalanta, and Villarreal in addition to Arsenal, Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Eintracht Frankfurt, and Club Brugge.
Pot 3 contains Tottenham Hotspur, PSV Eindhoven, Ajax, Napoli, Sporting CP, Olympiacos, Slavia Prague, Bodo/Glimt, and Olympique Marseille.
In Galatasaray’s own Pot 4 are Copenhagen, Monaco, Union Saint-Gilloise, Qarabag, Athletic Bilbao, Newcastle United, Pafos, and Kairat.
UEFA has confirmed the fixture calendar for the league stage, which will be published in full by August 30. The opening round will take place between September 16–18, 2025. The stage will conclude with the final round of matches on January 28, 2026.
The knockout rounds will begin with the play-off stage on February 17–18 and 24–25, 2026. The round of 16 will follow on March 10–11 and 17–18, before quarter-finals on April 7–8 and 14–15. Semi-finals will be played on April 28–29 and May 5–6.
The season will culminate with the final at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary, on May 30, 2026.
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