All results go into the overall table, with the top eight progressing automatically to the round of 16. Teams placing ninth to 24th compete in a two-legged knockout to join the top eight, from where the competition continues in the format we previously knew. The Bundesliga, as one of the top five leagues per UEFA’s coefficient, has retained four automatic qualification berths. That means the teams that finish first, second, third and fourth in the 2024/25 Bundesliga earn the right to compete in the 2025/26 Champions League.

The old format of eight groups of four teams came to an end in 2024. That previously saw four guaranteed berths for the Bundesliga go straight into the group stage. In 2022/23, there were five German teams after Eintracht Frankfurt also won the UEFA Europa League to qualify. From 2024/25, the competition was expanded to 36 teams competing in one single league, known as the league phase, which replaced the old group stage, against eight different teams, four home and four away.