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

Their opponents for the League phase are –

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

Looking at the fixtures, Inter do have a few tough away fixtures but the others are manageable. They have started the season well with an emphatic win in their Italian Serie A opening game. However, the Champions League is where they struggled last season too. Therefore, they could finish in the Top 10 and may have to play the extra play-off fixtures.

Liverpool

Liverpool have endured a tough couple of seasons in the Champions League lately, losing to eventual winners PSG in the last two seasons. They reached the quarter-finals last year but were having a dreadful league season and hence, couldn’t progress further. The six-times champions have a new coach and would be looking to perform better this season.

Their opponents for the League phase are –

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

On paper, this looks like one of the easiest set of league fixtures barring the two games against Atleti and Inter. However, Champions League football cannot be taken for granted and with a new manager and a transitional team, Liverpool could have to work hard. However, we believe they still have the firepower to secure automatic qualification to the Round of 16.

Manchester City

Manchester City endured a tricky Champions League campaign last season, ensuring automatic qualification on the final matchday in the league phase. They were then knocked out by Real Madrid in the RO16 two-legged tie.

Their opponents for the league phase are –

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

The CItyzens probably have one of the toughest routes to the RO16 and under a new manager, it won’t be easy to navigate the league phase. However, they have started the season well with two straight wins in the Premier League and have the required quality to finish in Top 8 places.

Manchester United

Manchester United is returning to the Champions League after a gap of two seasons. The Red Devils did well to finish the season on a high last season and qualify for the Champions League. However, their last few UCL outings have been disappointing. The Mancunians will be looking to compete well.

Their opponents for the League Phase are –

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

Man United have also had a decent share of the draw. Apart from a couple of big games, they are good enough to get results in the relatively easier ones and ensure automatic qualification by finishing inside the Top 8.

Paris Saint-Germain

The two-time defending Champions have been the team to beat in the Champions League for the past two seasons. However, the final was a tough match-up against Arsenal which they won on penalties.

They couldn’t ensure automatic qualification last season too, having to play the extra play-off rounds. However, they peaked in the latter stages to win back-to-back UCL titles.

Their opponents in the League phase are –

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

Apart from their games against Barcelona and Man City, the others are games they should win comfortably. However, PSG hasn’t started the league campaign well in the past two seasons and we don’t know what to expect this time as well. That said, they should finish in the Top 8 places this time and ensure automatic qualification.

Porto

Former European champions Porto are a regular participant in the Champions League. However, they are returning to the UCL after a gap of two seasons. The Portuguese champions will be looking to at least qualify for the knockouts this season.

Their opponents for the League phase are –

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

Porto has a tricky set of fixtures in the league phase and it will take great effort for them to secure a Top 8 place. We don’t believe they can ensure automatic qualification to the knockout rounds but may end up inside Top 15 places to partake in the play-offs tie.

PSV Eindhoven

Dutch champions PSV played in the Champions League last season as well but apart from the upset away against Liverpool, they hardly performed in the league phase and were knocked out of the tournament after the initial phase.

Their opponents for the League phase are –

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

PSV won their league last season but they were unable to compete with the European elite. Their fixtures for this season look tough as well and therefore we do not believe PSV would get past the league phase again.

RB Leipzig

German club Leipzig have featured regularly in the Champions League but they were out of the competition last season, having failed to qualify. Leipzig has a decent enough team and would be looking to better their semi-final appearance from the 2019/20 season and reach their first UCL final.

Their opponents in the League phase are –

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

Looking at their fixtures, Leipzig has a tough route to the knockouts. Therefore, it looks unlikely that they will end the league phase in the Top 8 spots. However, they could finish in the play-off’s places.

Real Madrid

15-times 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 as well. Los Blancos would be raring to win another Champions League to reinstate their supremacy in the competition.

Their opponents in the League phase are –

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

Looking at their fixtures, the difficult encounters could be 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 one can be taken for granted. Having said that, we believe Real Madrid will finish inside the Top 8 places and ensure automatic qualification.