{
  "id": 3541943,
  "title": "When does the Champions League start? Match dates for league phase of 2026/27 UEFA tournament",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/26/when-does-the-champions-league-start-match-dates-for-league-phase-of",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-08-26T16:23:50.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Sports",
    "slug": "yahoo-sports",
    "url": "https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/does-champions-league-start-match-162350620.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The UEFA Champions League 2026/27 league phase will commence on Tuesday, September 8. The tournament will consist of eight matches per team, with games scheduled for Tuesdays and Wednesdays, except for a few Thursday games during the initial matchweek. The first matchweek will take place from September 8-10, followed by subsequent matchweeks on October 13-14, October 20-21, November 3-4, November 24-25, December 8-9, January 19-20, and concluding on January 27. The knockout stages of the competition will begin on February 16, 2027, with the Round of 16 matches scheduled for March 9-10, 2027, and the final match on June 5, 2027.",
  "summary": "With the qualifying stages now complete, 36 teams are set to contest the league phase, in the hopes of earning one of the 24 places in the knockout bracket.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 5,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "DutchNews",
        "title": "NEC out of Champions League after early red card kills hopes",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/26/nec-out-of-champions-league-after-early-red-card-kills-hopes",
        "published": "2026-08-26T07:34:50.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Al Jazeera",
        "title": "Bodo return to Champions League, Azerbaijan’s Sabah deny Israeli Beer-Sheva",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/26/bodo-return-to-champions-league-azerbaijans-sabah-deny-israeli-beer",
        "published": "2026-08-26T09:00:35.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Yahoo Sports",
        "title": "When is the Champions League draw? 2026-27 UCL date and time",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/26/when-is-the-champions-league-draw-2026-27-ucl-date-and-time",
        "published": "2026-08-26T10:08:19.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "IOL",
        "title": "Aden McCarthy celebrates historic UEFA Champions League spot with Sabah FC",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/26/aden-mccarthy-celebrates-historic-uefa-champions-league-spot-with",
        "published": "2026-08-26T14:00:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}