The energy in European football right now is... a lot. We’ve seen the new league format shake things up, and honestly, trying to keep track of the calendar is becoming a full-time job. If you’re already looking past the winter chill and wondering about the ucl semi final dates, you aren't alone. These are the games that define legacies. Everyone remembers where they were when Lucas Moura stunned Amsterdam or when Real Madrid pulled off that impossible comeback against City.
For the 2025/26 season, the road to Budapest is winding, but the finish line is clear. We are looking at a late-spring showdown that will essentially stop the world for four nights.
The Official UCL Semi Final Dates You Need to Circle
The business end of the tournament hits hard in late April. UEFA has locked in the schedule, and if you're planning a viewing party or—lucky you—trying to book flights, these are the only numbers that matter.
The first legs of the semi-finals are scheduled for April 28 and 29, 2026.
Drama doesn't wait. A week later, we get the second legs on May 5 and 6, 2026.
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It’s a brutal turnaround. Two games. Eight days. One ticket to the Puskás Aréna. Unlike the earlier rounds where you might have three weeks between legs, the semi-finals are a concentrated burst of adrenaline. One bad 45-minute spell on a Tuesday night in April can end a season’s worth of work.
A Breakdown of the Full Knockout Path
To even get to those late April dates, teams have to survive a gauntlet that starts much earlier. Since the format change, the "Round of 16" isn't even the first hurdle for everyone anymore.
- Knockout Phase Play-offs: February 17–18 & 24–25, 2026.
- Round of 16: March 10–11 & 17–18, 2026.
- Quarter-finals: April 7–8 & 14–15, 2026.
- Semi-finals: April 28–29 & May 5–6, 2026.
Basically, the semi-finals start just two weeks after the quarter-finals end. There is zero room for error and even less room for recovery.
Why the 2026 Semi-Finals Feel Different
This year feels heavy. We have defending champions Paris Saint-Germain—who finally got that monkey off their back last year—looking to prove it wasn't a fluke. Then you've got the usual suspects like Real Madrid, who seem to treat the ucl semi final dates as a mandatory annual appointment.
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But there’s a nuance here that some fans miss. The draw for the semi-finals actually happens much earlier than the games themselves. On February 27, 2026, UEFA will conduct a "mega-draw" that maps out the entire bracket from the Round of 16 all the way to the final.
This means by early March, we’ll already know which side of the bracket is the "Group of Death." We'll know if we're on a collision course for an El Clásico semi-final or a Premier League civil war. The path is set in stone early, which adds a weird layer of psychological warfare to the preceding rounds.
The Budapest Factor
The final is set for May 30, 2026, at the Puskás Aréna. Why does this matter for the semi-finals? Because the winner of the first semi-final pairing is technically designated as the "home" team for the final. It’s mostly administrative—kit choices, locker room assignments—but in a game of marginal gains, every bit of comfort counts.
Also, UEFA has made a massive change to the final's kick-off time for this season. It's moving to 18:00 CEST. This shift is designed to make the game more accessible to a global audience, but it also changes the "vibe" of the final compared to the late-night semi-final drama we're used to.
Common Misconceptions About the Schedule
I see people getting confused about the Tuesday/Wednesday split every single year. Just because a team plays on a Tuesday in the first leg doesn't guarantee they play Tuesday in the second leg, though UEFA usually tries to keep the pairings consistent for broadcast purposes.
Another thing: the away goals rule. It's still dead. Gone. Buried.
If the scores are level after 180 minutes on May 6, we go straight to 30 minutes of extra time and then the dreaded penalty shootout. No "counting double" in the second leg. It has fundamentally changed how teams approach the first leg of the semi-finals. You see fewer teams "parking the bus" for a 0-0 draw away from home because the incentive structure has shifted.
Preparing for the Final Four
If you are a die-hard fan, the weeks leading up to April 28 are when you need to watch the injury reports like a hawk. One hamstring tweak in a domestic league match on April 20 can change the entire complexion of the Champions League.
Actionable Steps for Fans:
- Sync Your Calendars: Manually add April 28-29 and May 5-6 to your phone now. Don't rely on "remembering" when the time comes.
- Watch the Draw: Tune in on February 27, 2026. That's when the "bracketology" begins and you can see who has the easier route to the semi-finals.
- Check Local Broadcasts: In the US, Paramount+ remains the primary home, while TNT Sports usually handles the UK. Double-check your subscriptions before the first leg kicks off to avoid that "login failed" panic at 2:59 PM.
- Monitor Travel: If you’re planning to attend a semi-final, wait for the February draw to see which teams are seeded to play the second leg at home. Usually, the higher-ranked teams from the league phase get that "home-second" advantage, but that depends on their path through the bracket.
The ucl semi final dates are the peak of club football. The quality is higher than the World Cup, the stakes are more personal, and for those two weeks in April and May, nothing else in the sporting world really matters.