Overview

• The new ligaphase opens on 24–25 September with 36 clubs in a single table, each playing eight fixtures split evenly home and away.
• Seeding rules send the top eight directly to the round of 16, while places 9–24 contest two-legged playoffs on 19 and 26 February to complete the last‑16 field.
• The schedule sets the ligaphase finale for 29 January, the round of 16 for 12 and 19 March, quarterfinals for 9 and 16 April, semifinals for 30 April and 7 May, and the final on 20 May in Istanbul.
• Germany’s entrants are VfB Stuttgart and SC Freiburg; Freiburg hosts FC Basel at 21:00, with free‑to‑air matches on RTL or Nitro and full streaming via RTL+.
• RTL holds Europa and Conference League rights through 2027, while DAZN and Amazon Prime Video share Champions League rights in Germany, including Pafos vs Bayern on 30 September on Prime Video.