2025-2026 Spanish football calendar – Key dates

The 2025/26 season of the Segunda Division also kicks off on the same weekend, with two clashes between clubs that were separated by two divisions last season, as Las Palmas host Andorra, while Real Valladolid entertain Ceuta.

16th-18th September 2025 – League phase of the Champions League commences

The 2025/26 season of the UEFA Champions League properly kicks off in September with the first matchday in the league phase. The Spanish participants are Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Athletic Club and Villarreal after five places were awarded to LaLiga last season.

The league phase will see each club face eight different opponents, with four home and four away fixtures. The top eight clubs will progress to the round-of-16, while those ranked 9th to 24th will enter a play-off round.

24th-25th September 2025 – League phase of the Europa League commences

The 2025/26 Europa League kicks off the following week with the matchday one fixtures in its league phase which follows the same format as the Champions League.

Real Betis and Celta Vigo are the Spanish participants, with the Galicians back in Europe for the first time since they reached the semi-finals of the Europa League in 2016/17. Betis reached the Conference League final last season and will be hoping their strong run in that competition stands them in good stead.

Rayo Vallecano are the sole Spanish club in this season’s Conference League which kicks off on Thursday 2nd October, with its league phase only consisting of six matchdays.

Weekend of 25th/26th October 2025 – El Clasico: Real Madrid vs Barcelona

The final weekend of October will see El Clasico take place for the final time in 2025. Real Madrid will be at home and eager to reverse last season’s trend which saw Barcelona win every meeting. We’ll find out in due course the exact date and kick-off time.

Regular tickets for the big game most likely won’t go on sale via the Real Madrid website until October, and members will have priority access. If you’re interested in getting El Clasico tickets, you may need to consider alternative means to be certain of securing a seat, with Bernabeu hospitality tickets and hotel-and-ticket packages from sportsbreaks.com among the options for this and other big games in the Spanish capital this season.

13th-18th November 2025 – World Cup qualifying groups conclude in Europe

There’s a significant international break in November as the World Cup qualifying groups conclude in Europe. Spain face Georgia and Turkey to round off their Group E campaign, and they’ll be favourites to secure top spot and with it direct qualification to the 2026 World Cup. Should they only finish second in a group which also features Bulgaria, they’d enter the play-offs which will be played in March.

16th-18th December 2025 – Copa del Rey 3rd round

In a slight change to the Spanish football calendar for the 2025/26 season, the Copa del Rey 3rd round will take place before Christmas. This is the point when the four Supercopa teams enter the tournament.

All the games in this round will be played in midweek, with clubs in the top two divisions then having one more weekend league fixture before breaking for the festive period.

7th-11th January 2026 – Spanish Supercopa in Saudi Arabia

There’ll be a Madrid derby in early 2026 in Saudi Arabia as the big two from the Spanish capital face off in the Supercopa semi-finals. Barcelona meet Athletic Club in the other semi, with the final set to take place on Sunday 11th January. Barca and Real Madrid have met in each of the last three finals.

28th-29th January 2026 – League phase of the Champions & Europa League concludes

The league phases of the two main European competitions will conclude in the final week of January, with the seven Spanish clubs all hoping to secure top-eight finishes.

Finishing as high as possible is also in theory advantageous in terms of the eventual knockout bracket, and Hansi Flick’s side did benefit from quite a favourable draw after finishing 2nd in the league phase of the Champions League last term.

17th-19th February 2026 – Champions, Europa & Conference League knockout stages commence

The three European competitions follow an identical path from February onwards, with two-legged play-offs first needed to determine which teams complete the round-of-16 lineups.

There is still the potential for some big clashes at this stage, with Real Madrid defeating Manchester City in a Champions League knockout phase play-off tie last season.

25th April 2026 – Copa del Rey final in Seville

The 2026 Copa del Rey final looks set to take place on Saturday 25th April 2026, with no LaLiga matches scheduled for that weekend. La Cartuja in Seville will again be the setting, with Barca the current holders after their 3-2 final victory over Los Blancos in 2025.

Weekend of 10th/11th May 2026 – El Clasico: Barcelona vs Real Madrid

Unless they are paired together in a cup competition, the first Clasico to take place at Camp Nou in more than three years will see Barcelona and Real Madrid face off in the Catalan capital on matchday 35 of the 2025/26 LaLiga season in May.

The clubs met at the identical stage of the 2024/25 season at the Estadi Olimpic, with Barca’s 4-3 victory all but clinching the title. This meeting could be hugely consequential if a close title race develops between the two great rivals.

20th May 2026 – Europa League final in Istanbul

The first of the major European finals in 2026 will be in Istanbul on Wednesday 20th May at the Besiktas Stadium. Celta and Betis would dearly love to be there, but they’ll face competition from the likes of Aston Villa, Roma, Lille and Porto.

Weekend of 23rd/24th May 2026 – LaLiga finale

The fourth weekend in May ranks among the biggest Spanish football dates in 2026 as it will see the conclusion of LaLiga. As has been the norm in recent years, LaLiga have tried to engineer a grandstand finale by scheduling some glamour fixtures on matchday 38, with Real Madrid hosting Athletic Club, Barcelona travelling to Valencia, while Villarreal host Atletico Madrid.

Meanwhile the newly-promoted teams are all away on the final weekend, with Oviedo at Mallorca, Elche travelling to Girona, while Levante visit Betis who will be playing at La Cartuja this season as the Benito Villamarin gets a facelift.

27th May 2026 – Conference League final in Leipzig

The Conference League final takes place just a few days after the conclusion of LaLiga in Germany. Rayo Vallecano face a tough challenge as they bid to adapt to the demands of a much busier schedule than they are used to.

If they can rise to the task, they could be contenders to make it all the way to Leipzig, with Fiorentina and Nottingham Forest among their potential rivals for the crown.

30th May 2026 – Champions League final in Budapest

Budapest is the setting for the finale of this season’s UEFA Champions League, with the giants of the European game hoping to be at the Puskas Arena on the final weekend of May.

PSG will defend their crown, while Barca are bidding to end a wait of more than a decade for a European trophy. Meanwhile, Alonso’s first year in Madrid will also largely be judged on whether he can take Los Blancos at least close to reaching another Champions League final.

Weekend of 30th/31st May 2026 – Segunda Division final matchday

Spanish football diehards will have the option of shunning the Champions League final and instead indulging in the drama of the final weekend of the Segunda Division season. It’s normally very tight at the top in this league, with a host of clubs hoping to be involved in the race for the two automatic promotion positions.

21st June 2026 – Segunda Division play-off final 2nd leg

The clubs that finish between 3rd and 6th in the Segunda Division will enter the play-offs for the final promotion slot. Both the semi-finals and final will be played over two legs, with the action not concluding until Saturday 22nd June 2026 on a weekend that will effectively mark the end of the domestic season in Spain.

11th June – 19th July 2026 – FIFA World Cup in the USA, Canada & Mexico

Another marathon football season concludes in style with the 2026 FIFA World Cup. With 48 nations taking part, it’ll be the largest edition of the tournament to date with 12 groups of four teams battling it out for a place in the knockout round which will feature a round-of-32 for the first time.

Matches will be played across 16 different North American cities, with the final taking place at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sunday 19th July 2026. As defending European champions, Spain should be one of the leading contenders.

LaLiga derby dates

In addition, there are a host of tasty derby matches to look out for throughout the 2025/26 Spanish football season. That includes the return of the Valencia derby following Levante’s promotion to the top flight.

Here are the dates for some of the biggest local derbies in LaLiga 2025/26:

• Weekend of 27th/28th September 2025 – Atletico Madrid vs Real Madrid
• Weekend of 1st/2nd November 2025 – Real Sociedad vs Athletic Club
• Weekend of 22nd/23rd November 2025 – Valencia vs Levante
• Weekend of 29th/30th November 2025 – Sevilla vs Real Betis
• Weekend of 3rd/4th January 2026 – Espanyol vs Barcelona
• Weekend of 1st/2nd February 2026 – Athletic Club vs Real Sociedad
• Weekend of 14th/15th February 2026 – Levante vs Valencia
• Weekend of 28th February/1st March 2026 – Real Betis vs Sevilla
• Weekend of 21st/22nd March 2026 – Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid
• Weekend of 11th/12th April 2026 – Barcelona vs Espanyol

Note – Exact dates and kick-off times of LaLiga matches will be confirmed in due course (usually several weeks before each matchday) and it’s possible some weekend fixtures may be moved to Fridays or Mondays.