Champions Hockey League Announces 2025-26 Game Dates
As is usually the case, the first four rounds of games will be played on consecutive weekends, Thursday to Sunday, before the domestic national leagues start. Gamedays 5 and 6 then go on Tuesdays and Wednesdays in October. The playoffs, which are played in two-legged series, continue the pattern of Tuesdays and Wednesdays, with the round of 16 scheduled for November, the quarterfinals for December and the semifinals in January.
Due to the 2026 Winter Olympics, the final, which is usually scheduled for February, will instead be played in early March. This was also the case in 2022.
So far, 17 teams have already qualified to play in the CHL next season, with seven more spots still available.
Zurich Lions Win Champions Hockey League Final – Back-To-Back Titles For Switzerland For the second year in a row, a Swiss team has defeated a Swedish team in the Champions Hockey League final. On their home ice, the ZSC Lions defeated visiting Färjestad 2-1 before a sell-out crowd of 12,000 at Swiss Life Arena in Zurich.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Manchester United Are Eyeing A Move For This Serie A Winger: Decent Choice For Amorim?
In a recent post on X, journalist Sebastien Vidal claimed that Manchester United are eyeing a move for Bologna winger Dan Ndoye this summer. It is believed that the Red Devils are preparing to launch a €40m offer to land the Swiss wide player this off-season. Ndoye's Impressive Form In Serie A Ndoye had a productive campaign at the Italian club as he put in a string of impressive displays on the right side of their attack. The Swiss talent participated in 41 matches for Bologna last season, scoring nine times and earning six assists on all fronts. The Nyon-born wing wizard managed to shine at times on the right flank and did well to average 2.1 shots per 90 minutes in Serie A. He kept 34% of his attempts on target. However, Ndoye needs to improve his ball distribution in the final third after making 73.7% of his attempted passes in the Italian top tier (stats via His current contract at the Italian club will run out in the summer of 2027. Therefore, Man United would have to make a good offer if they want to lure Ndoye to Old Trafford in this transfer window. NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – JUNE 10: Dan Ndoye #11 of Switzerland looks on prior to the match against the United States at GEODIS Park on June 10, 2025 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by) Is Ndoye A Decent Choice For Manchester United? Ndoye is a decent dribbler with the ball at his feet and can make a few driving runs with it out in the wide areas. He can strike the ball with power from long range and has got the eye to play some decisive passes on the offensive end of the field. The Swiss talent can chip in by scoring and creating his fair share of goals up top. However, he needs to find a way to improve his link-up play in the opponent's half. Furthermore, it remains to be seen whether the gifted wide player can make a smooth transition to life in the Premier League if the Red Devils manage to bring him on board this summer. We can expect Ndoye to add more firepower to Man United boss Ruben Amorim's midfield. He is good enough to help the Mancunian club compete for a European place in the Premier League next season. At 24, Ndoye has his best years ahead of him which makes him an excellent choice for the Red Devils to pursue in this transfer period.
Fox Sports
an hour ago
- Fox Sports
Carli Lloyd Knows Big Games. Here's Why She Thinks Spain Has The Edge Over England In Euro Final
When it comes to playing in high-stakes tournaments and finals, few can match Carli Lloyd. I spoke with the U.S. women's national team legend and FOX Sports analyst about the UEFA 2025 Women's Euro. Who has stood out? Why have penalties been such a hot topic. And, who'll win Sunday's blockbuster final? Which players have stood out or impressed you the most? Carli Lloyd: The big ones are easy to talk about, but I would probably have to say Patri Guijarro from Spain is No. 1. She's been the engine and she's been brilliant in the middle. I think all of the attacking players usually get all the praise and the hype and whatnot, but she's been absolutely crucial to the Spanish side's attack with her link play and ability to read the game. Not just keeping possession for the sake of keeping possession, but forward progressive passes that she makes. So it's been really, really cool to see. And obviously she's been having a really good year [for Barcelona]. Then with the likes of Aitana Bonmatí and Alexia Putellas, who are having great tournaments, some other Spanish players fly a bit more under the radar. I think [Barcelona forward] Claudia Pina has been having an outstanding season, which has carried over into this tournament for Spain. She was the only real bright attacking threat against Switzerland and scored an unbelievable goal. Her ability to attack players on the dribble and unleash her signature shot has made her into a deadly attacker. And I would have to highlight [England's 19-year-old forward] Michelle Agyemang. I think people are calling for her to be starting, or this and that. I don't think she should be starting [yet]. I think she's still young, and she has a bright future and I think that with young players, you often have to be a bit delicate to the situation of when to kind of give them that freedom. And I think she's come on and she's been absolutely crucial, scoring big-time goals and just her ability to get in behind and embrace the moment. The moments don't seem too big for her and she's a bright spot that has been really enjoyable to watch. Penalty kicks have been a hot topic. What has stood out to you? CL: What I found interesting was [France manager Laurent Bonadei and Sweden manager Peter Gerhardssen] said they weren't too focused on penalties [due to the unpredictability of knowing which teams would be at the tournament]. I don't think that a lot of us have witnessed a worse penalty shootout [than the one between England and Sweden in the quarterfinal]. It's happened on the men's side. And look, it happens to the best of us, missing penalties. But for me, reading what the Swedish coach had said, it didn't seem like there was much preparation that was going into it. And I was pretty shocked because I felt if it were going into penalties, I thought Sweden was going to have the upper hand in experience because they've been there and done that. Going back to 2023 World Cup [in the round of 16 shootout against the U.S.], they were sharp and they got it done. So I was a bit surprised by that. How did you approach penalties during your career? CL: I just look at our team over the years and how much prep went into penalties. I mean, time and time again, we had crazy crowd noise in the stadium that we were [piping in], and we had competitions against one another, and we'd have scrimmages and we would do penalties after every time we scrimmaged the boys or scrimmaged ourselves. So there was just a lot of preparation that went into it. You have to kind of wonder when multiple players are missing what that does to the psyche of one's mind. You start to get in your head a little bit more, so I think that probably played a bit of a role. But [England right-back] Lucy Bronze at the end there and that particular penalty was just stone-cold. She knew where she was going, and she just put it away. I think some of the other players, maybe the run-ups are a little off. I think people are probably tweaking their penalties from time to time, but that's what I took away from it. What were the biggest penalties that you ever made and missed? CL: We all made ours [in the 2011 World Cup quarterfinal shootout vs. Brazil] and then we had to prepare for another [shootout] in the final against Japan. And I think all of us weren't sure if we should keep our same spot or change our spot, and was the Japanese goalkeeper going to know where we were all going? So there were mind games going on within our heads. [In the final] Shannon Boxx missed hers, and then I step up and I miss mine. And then Tobin [Heath] missed hers [and we lost]. From that instance on, I knew that I had to do more preparation and I had to practice PKs more. I had to be comfortable going any spot. Then I would have to say the 2015 World Cup semifinal vs. Germany and having to make that [was the biggest]. (Lloyd converted a penalty in the 69th minute to score the USWNT's first goal in a 2-0 win.) What are you looking forward to most about Spain vs. England? CL: It's interesting. England really haven't played well. I don't like to use the word luck, but I do feel like they've had some things fall in the right direction for them in order to get it done. But they've also shown such tremendous resiliency and perseverance that I feel like I haven't seen as much from them [in the past]. It almost reminds me of the U.S. over the years. We weren't necessarily the best team or playing the best, but we were somehow finding ways to win and sometimes that's all you need. And then I look at the Spanish side where I feel like they've been playing beautiful football. Yes, Switzerland made it difficult for them in the way that they defended and put them under pressure, and Germany did as well. But I still think those moments of brilliance and individual brilliance – I believe there's a bit of a gap as far as the way Spain play. So it's just going to be really tactically interesting to see what England are going to do. If they're going to take the blueprint from Switzerland and Germany and make things compact and make things difficult for Spain to play. We saw Spain having to play a bit more direct vs. Germany. The way Spain have evolved from 2019 to now is they can beat you in a variety of ways. They can possess the ball, they can play direct, they can hunt you down. I'm just a fan of this final, so I hope that it's a really good game, that it's entertaining, and there are a lot of amazing stars that are going to be on the field playing. What's your Euros final prediction? CL: I find this one really difficult. I think Spain are the clear front-runner and they have been, and I've said that from the beginning [of this tournament]. But as we've seen, on any given day – I mean look at Germany playing down a man for some 100 minutes [in the quarterfinal vs. France] and their performance. I was not high on Germany for the entire tournament up until that point and then what they displayed will be talked about for decades to come. So I am going to go with Spain just given the history and what they've been doing this tournament. I think they have weathered adversity and still found ways to win. I think England look a bit tired and they're all a bit banged up. So I think Spain have the extra edge there. Are Spain and England the two strongest teams in the world? How would a full-strength USWNT team stack up? CL: I do think overall from this tournament that the two best teams are in the final. Doesn't mean that it's the two best teams that have been playing the best football, but when you look at everything and you look at manager Sarina Wiegman, the subs coming off the bench, the way England have been able to pull off some off these wins, that ultimately is what makes teams the best. And Spain, there's no question. If you just look at the way that they play, I think they're above everyone by a pretty decent margin. Yes, the U.S. won the last Olympics and Emma Hayes has done a phenomenal job with this group. I think that they're definitely heading in the right direction. I still think they really haven't been up against the European giants, which would be really interesting to see. [Right now] they may be third or fourth [best team in the world], hovering around there behind Spain and England. But time will tell in that regard. Laken Litman covers college football, college basketball and soccer for FOX Sports. She previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, USA Today and The Indianapolis Star. She is the author of "Strong Like a Woman," published in spring 2022 to mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX. Follow her at @LakenLitman . Get more from the UEFA Euro Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
What Spain's celebrations revealed about the Women's Euro 2025 favourites
It was a little insight into a team that might well end up being hailed as the greatest. After the final whistle of what might have superficially looked like a fairly routine 2-0 quarter-final win, Spain's players celebrated as if they'd won a trophy. There was joyous camaraderie. They ran to the fans. There were group photos where they beckoned members of staff to get involved. Players were even larking about, imitating kung-fu kicks and chasing after each other. An obvious quip here is that it was closer than any opposition player has got to them in this tournament so far, with the manner of the two goals against Switzerland particularly prominent examples. Substitute Athenea del Castillo was through unmarked for the first. Claudio Pina was then left free to hit her spectacular trademark. Except, the Spanish players also gave Switzerland a guard of honour, and that felt about much more than just hailing excellent and proud hosts. It looked like respect, for a team that had actually made Spain work harder than anyone for quite a while. By the hour-mark, with the score 0-0, it looked like it was going to be one of those long anxious tournament nights that their men's team has historically endured. Mariona Caldentey's penalty miss even seemed to be playing on their minds, as they just struggled to work their way through the durable hosts. The first 45 minutes were actually the first half of this tournament where Spain hadn't scored. You could say there's another potential blueprint there, except Spain of course always have plans of their own. On 62 minutes, Montse Tome finally made some changes, bringing on both Leila Ouahabi and Athenea. Spain had the different runs that were needed, after a period where their possession had threatened to become a touch self-parodic. They had so much of the ball in front of the Swiss goal but, faced by a mass of bodies, they could only offer laboured passes inside. Then, after such frustration facing goal, the mercurial Aitana Bonmati figured out the solution with her back to goal. She flicked the ball delightfully, allowing Athenea to surge through and finish just four minutes after coming on. Goalkeeper Livia Peng might have done better, but then something eventually had to give. Spain had only moments before forced goalmouth chaos with a corner, hitting the frame of the goal for the second. Switzerland were starting to tire. And this, ultimately, is the great challenge of facing Spain. You can make them work, and really toil for that opening goal, but the very process ultimately means they make you work much harder. It's exhausting, which is when those gaps start to appear. Player of the match, Aitana, also displayed a mentality that elevates them: 'I was always calm.' She always felt the goal was coming. If it isn't enough that Spain tire you out, either, they've also got a range of different attackers to bring on. Athenea was that, and that was even before introducing Vicky Lopez. A mere six minutes after that opening goal, Pina had the ball in that danger area 25 yards from goal and exquisitely curved another fine effort into the top corner. You can of course see it coming, but there's little you can do about it. What price she does that to win the tournament? We might be getting ahead of ourselves here, but that's how good Spain are. Even when they're not at their best, they still display qualities that would offer any opposition major concerns. There was even a psychological hurdle passed here, which perhaps explains the extent of the joy afterwards. This was the first knock-out game Spain had ever won in the Euros, which feels remarkable for a team that is now so good. That speaks to the previous issues, and the speed of their evolution. It was of course at this stage three years ago that they lost to Sarina Wiegman's England. Germany or - especially - France will at least pose Spain's sternest test so far in Wednesday's semi-final in Zurich, and the world champions will have to do it without the suspended Laia Aleixandri. That's a problem if it is against France's pace. There is also another potential solution for potential opposition, if you can get that far: penalties. Spain actually missed two - taking it to an incredible 12 of 17 in these quarter-finals so far - since Alexia Putellas also missed one late on. Worse, it was a replica of the one she missed in the Olympics last year. There is something astonishing about players as technically good as Spain's failing to score like this. They're the best passers in the world, and the trick to penalties is really passing it inside the post. Maybe it's for the best that there are some inexplicable flaws, though. If the win was still Spain's, part of the night was Switzerland's. They'd done themselves proud as hosts, as was recognised by the home crowd in Bern. They went off jumping up and down in happiness. We might well see even more of that from Spain.
