UEFA Champions League 2026/27: Looking at the top teams' league phase fixtures

Aug 30, 2026

The draw for the league phase of the 2026/27 edition of the UEFA Champions League happened on August 27, 2026, in Monaco, as we discovered fixtures of all the 36 teams in the draw. The first round of fixtures will commence on September 8.

The draw has revealed some mouth-watering clashes between European giants. While we have several debutants this season, such as Como, Sabah, and Vikings, teams like Manchester United and Porto are returning to Europe’s top competition after a two-season absence.

Here, let’s take a look at the league phase fixtures of all top teams in the 2026/27 UEFA Champions League and consider their chances of reaching the knockouts.

Arsenal

Arsenal reached the Champions League final last season, losing to PSG on penalties. Ahead of the new season, the Gunners have again prepared a strong squad and will be looking to go all the way this time around.

Their opponents for the league phase are:

Napoli (A)
Lille (H)
Bayern Munich (A)
Slavia Praha (A)
Borussia Dortmund (H)
Real Madrid (H)
Real Betis (A)
Sabah (H)

Although there are some tough fixtures, Arsenal are last season’s runners-up and have started the new season in top form. Hence, they should easily qualify for the round of 16 with a top-three finish.

Aston Villa

Aston Villa missed last season’s Champions League campaign but won the Europa League and are back in the UCL again this term on the back of a fourth-place Premier League finish.

Their opponents for the league phase are:

Club Brugge (A)
Fenerbahçe (H)
Viking (H)
Barcelona (A)
Galatasaray (A)
Paris Saint-Germain (H)
Borussia Dortmund (H)
Slavia Praha (A)

The Villans have lost key players in this transfer window and are not as strong on paper as they were as last season. They do have several tough fixtures to play here, hence we feel they might not end up in the automatic round of 16 qualification spots after the league phase, though they should still be able to get a knockout play-off spot.

Atlético de Madrid

Atlético Madrid have reached a couple of Champions League finals in recent history, but they are yet to lift their first Champions League trophy. Last season, they reached the semi-finals but were knocked out by Arsenal over two legs.

Liverpool (A)
Manchester United (H)
Stuttgart (A)
Bayern München (H)
Viking (H)
PSV Eindhoven (A)
Bodø/Glimt (A)
Fenerbahçe (H)

Atleti have a well-settled team and an experienced coach in Diego Simeone. They have reinforced over the summer with a few key singings. However, they do have several tough fixtures in the league phase and could end up outside the top eight and may have to contend with a knockout play-off tie.

Barcelona

Barcelona haven’t won the Champions League since 2015 and lost to LaLiga rivals Atlético Madrid in the quarter-finals last season. The Blaugrana will be desperate to go all the way this season.

Their opponents for the league phase are:

Feyenoord (H)
Galatasaray (A)
Paris Saint-Germain (A)
Aston Villa (H)
Sabah (A)
Manchester City (H)
Sporting (A)
Como (H)

Barça have a mixed set of fixtures in terms of difficulty, with Man City, PSG, and Villa being the tougher encounters, but we believe they have the form and the squad to qualify inside the top eight and directly reach the round of 16.

Bayern Munich

The six-time UCL champions went close last season, reaching the semi-finals but losing out to eventual winners PSG. They will be looking to go further this time around.

Their opponents for the league phase are:

Bodø/Glimt (H)
Viking (A)
Arsenal (H)
Atlético Madrid (A)
Lille (A)
Slavia Praha (H)
Manchester United (A)
Real Betis (H)

Bayern have a mixed set of fixtures, with a few tough opponents tossed in alongside some fairly easy ones. Their front line is regarded as one of the best attacking units in Europe. Therefore, barring Arsenal, Atleti, and Man United, the rest of their fixtures are easily winnable ones. They should be able to ensure direct qualification to the last 16.

Borussia Dortmund

Borussia Dortmund have been to three Champions League finals (1997, 2013, 2024), losing the two since the turn of the millennium. The German heavyweights have remained a constant presence in the competition for several years now and will be looking for another strong showing this time around.

Their opponents for the league phase are:

Villarreal (H)
Bodø/Glimt (A)
Sabah (A)
Real Betis (H)
Arsenal (A)
Inter Milan (H)
Aston Villa (A)
AEK Athens (H)

BVB had a quality squad last time out but ended up missing out on round of 16 action by losing their knockout play-off tie to Atalanta. Their fixtures this season are filled with tough as well as easy fixtures. While we don’t think they will win enough games to seal a top-eight finish, they should be easily able to finish in the play-off spots.

Galatasaray

Turkish giants Galatasaray had a decent 2025/26 campaign in the Champions League. Although no one expected them to reach the knockouts, they pulled out several upsets to reach the round of 16, where they lost to Liverpool.

Their opponents for the league phase are:

Sporting (A)
Barcelona (H)
Lille (A)
Stuttgart (H)
Aston Villa (H)
AEK Athens (A)
Feyenoord (H)
Paris Saint-Germain (A)

Galatasaray are fairly regular when it comes to playing in the Champions League, though they are yet to go past the quarter-finals. This draw suggests that they will experience difficulties once again, but they should at least be able to finish in the top 24.

Internazionale Milano

Three-time winners Inter Milan have reached two Champions League finals in recent years but have failed to go all the way on both occasions. Having won the Scudetto last season, the Nerazzurri will be raring to go and get that fourth UCL trophy.

Their opponents for the league phase are:

Real Madrid (A)
Club Brugge (H)
Shakhtar Donetsk (H)
Feyenoord (A)
Stuttgart (H)
Borussia Dortmund (A)
Liverpool (H)
Slovan Bratislava (A)

Looking at the fixtures, Inter do have a few tough fixtures, but the others are manageable. They have started the season well, winning their first Serie A game by beating Monza 4–1. However, the Champions League is where they struggled last season as well, though it seems likely that they may need to go through the knockout play-off round.

Liverpool

Liverpool have endured a tough couple of seasons in the Champions League lately, having lost to eventual winners PSG over the last two seasons. They reached the quarter-finals last year, but an underwhelming domestic campaign ushered in a managerial change. Under Andoni Iraola, the six-time champions will be looking to perform better this season.

Their opponents for the league phase are:

Atlético Madrid (H)
LASK (A)
Villarreal (H)
Fenerbahçe (A)
Club Brugge (A)
Porto (H)
Inter Milan (A)
Lens (H)

On paper, this looks like one of the easiest sets of league phase fixtures, barring the two games against Atleti and Inter, of course. However, Champions League football cannot be taken for granted against any team, and with a new manager and a squad in transition, Liverpool will have to work hard. However, they still have enough firepower to earn themselves a spot in the top eight.

Manchester City

Manchester City endured a tricky Champions League campaign last season, ensuring automatic qualification on the final matchday in the league phase before getting knocked out by Real Madrid in the round of 16.

Their opponents for the league phase this time around are:

Porto (A)
Paris Saint-Germain (H)
AEK Athens (H)
Leipzig (A)
Napoli (H)
Barcelona (A)
Lens (A)
Sporting (H)

The Cityzens probably have one of the toughest routes to the round of 16. Under a new manager, things will be further harder to navigate. However, they have started the season well with two straight wins in the Premier League and have the required squad quality to finish in the top eight.

Manchester United

Manchester United are returning to the Champions League after a gap of two seasons. The Red Devils did well to finish last season on a high note and qualified for the competition with a third-place finish in the Premier League. However, their last few UCL campaigns have simply been disappointing, something they’ll look to change this time around.

Their opponents for the league phase are:

Sabah (H)
Atlético Madrid (A)
Como (A)
Roma (H)
Sporting (A)
Leipzig (H)
Bayern Munich (H)
Villarreal (A)

Man United have a decent mix of winnable and tricky fixtures in their league phase line-up. Apart from a couple of big games, they have a good enough squad to get enough points to secure a top-eight finish.

Paris Saint-Germain

The two-time defending champions have been the team to beat in the Champions League for the past two seasons. However, they just defended their title against Arsenal in last season’s final and were taken to penalties.

In both of their title-winning seasons, PSG have failed to secure a top-eight finish in the league phase, though they seem to have mastered the art of peaking at just the right time.

Their opponents for the league phase this time around are:

Slovan Bratislava (H)
Manchester City (A)
Barcelona (H)
Villarreal (A)
Roma (H)
Aston Villa (A)
Como (A)
Galatasaray (H)

Apart from the games against Barcelona and Man City, the rest are fixtures the Parisians should be able to win, at least on paper. However, given their league phase performances over the past two seasons, it’s hard to know what to expect from them. If we had to pick, we’d back them for a top-eight finish this time.

Porto

2004 Champions League winners Porto are regular participants in the competition. However, they are returning to the Champions League after a gap of two seasons and will look to at least reach the knockouts.

Their opponents for the league phase are:

Manchester City (H)
Real Betis (A)
PSV Eindhoven (H)
Napoli (H)
Feyenoord (A)
Liverpool (A)
Slavia Praha (H)
LASK (A)

Porto have a tricky set of fixtures in the league phase; finishing in the top eight feels like a very tall order for the Dragões. We don’t believe they can ensure automatic qualification to the last 16, though a spot in the play-off round could be up for grabs.

PSV Eindhoven

Dutch champions PSV played in the Champions League last season as well, but apart from the upset away at Liverpool, they hardly performed in the league phase and failed to reach the knockouts.

Their opponents for the league phase this season are:

Shakhtar Donetsk (H)
Leipzig (A)
Porto (A)
Club Brugge (H)
Real Madrid (A)
Atlético Madrid (H)
Viking (A)
VfB Stuttgart (H)

PSV won the Eredivisie last season but were unable to compete with the European elite. Their fixtures for this season look tough as well, and we don’t think they’re getting out of the league phase this time either.

RB Leipzig

German side RB Leipzig have featured regularly in the Champions League over the last decade, though they missed out last season, having failed to qualify. This time around, they have a decent enough squad and will be looking to improve upon their semi-final appearance from the 2019/20 season.

Their opponents for the league phase are:

Como (A)
PSV (H)
Real Madrid (A)
Manchester City (H)
Lens (H)
Manchester United (A)
Shakhtar Donetsk (H)
Feyenoord (A)

Looking at their fixtures, the Roten Bullen have a tough route to the knockouts. Therefore, it looks unlikely that they will end the league phase in the top eight spots, though reaching the play-off round should be doable.

Real Madrid

15-time champions Real Madrid are the best team in UCL history. However, the last few seasons have been disappointing as per their very high standards. Last season, they were knocked out in the quarter-finals and ended the season trophyless altogether. This time around, Los Blancos will be raring to win another Champions League trophy to reinstate their supremacy in the competition.

Their opponents for the league phase are:

Inter Milan (H)
Roma (A)
RB Leipzig (H)
AEK Athens (A)
PSV Eindhoven (H)
Arsenal (A)
LASK (H)
Shakhtar Donetsk (A)

Looking at their fixtures, the difficult encounters will be the ones against Inter and Arsenal. Apart from those two, the rest of the fixtures are relatively easy, and they should ideally win those.

However, the Champions League brings the best out of all teams, and no side can be taken for granted. That said, we believe Real Madrid will finish well inside the top eight places.