UEFA Champions League 2026/27: Matchday 1 Preview and Predictions
Europe’s premier competition returns this week, with top teams set to lock horns with each other once again for continental glory.
French side Paris Saint-Germain defeated English champions Arsenal in the final last season to successfully defend their title. It’s going to be another exciting journey that could see an existing or new winner crowned the champions of Europe.
There are a couple of debutants this season as well, with Azerbaijan’s Sabah, Italian side Como, Austrian outfit LASK, and Norwegian champions Viking joining the league phase for the first time. Without a doubt, this is going to be another spectacular ride in the Champions League.
Here, we present our previews and predictions for all games of Matchday 1 of the 2026/27 UEFA Champions League season.
Club Brugge vs Aston Villa
The Belgian champions will face last season’s Europa League winners in their Champions League opener.
Both sides have had contrasting fortunes to kick off their respective league campaigns so far: while Club Brugge have won four and lost only one game, the Villans are sitting at the bottom of the Premier League table with two losses and a draw from their opening three games.
The Blauw-Zwart have only one injury concern, with defender Joel Ordóñez doubtful with a foot injury, while Villa will be without Amadou Onana, Johan Manzambi, and Brian Madjo.
Club Brugge performed well at home in the 2025/26 Champions League, losing only one game at the Jan Breydel Stadium. Although Aston Villa have defeated them in the competition the last two times they met (in the 2024/25 Champions League round of 16), it won’t be an easy task for a Villa side in transition to get the better of the reigning Belgian champions.
We believe Club Brugge will win this one and start their campaign grabbing three massive points.
Score Prediction: Club Brugge 2–1 Aston Villa
AEK Athens vs LASK
AEK Athens go into their opening UCL fixture having won their last league game on a canter. They’ve scored 13 goals in their last three home games without conceding a goal. As for their Austrian opponents, LASK are not doing too badly themselves and are sitting at the top of the Austrian Bundesliga table with five wins out of five, having scored 15 goals while conceding only two.
From an injury perspective, both teams have been rather fortunate, as AEK have all their first-team players available and LASK potentially set to miss only Ramiz Harakaté, who is out with a knee injury.
Both these teams are facing each other for the first time ever, making it a tricky match-up, with neither team knowing what to expect from the other. That said, AEK boast a strong home record and have been part of the competition multiple times, while LASK are making their Champions League debut. We believe the Greek champions will win this one comfortably.
Score Prediction: AEK 3–1 LASK
Porto vs Manchester City
Porto are back in the Champions League after a two-season hiatus and will open their league phase with a game against English giants Manchester City. Although City haven’t looked their usual dominant best, they have found ways to win games, with Rayan Cherki and Erling Haaland leading the charge so far. As for the hosts, Porto have been in top form in Liga Portugal and are unbeaten in five games out of five.
Coming to the injury issues, Porto could miss Zaidu Sanusi, Oscar Pietuszewski, and Vasco Sousa for this game, while Man City could be without Nico O’Reilly and Jérémy Doku for this away trip to the Dragão.
Porto and Man City have met four times before but haven’t beaten them even once, drawing once and losing thrice to the Cityzens. It won’t be an easy game for City, though, as Porto have some really exciting players that can trouble their defence. We believe this could be a cagey encounter, but we expect City to win by a narrow margin.
Score Prediction: Porto 1–2 Man City
Real Madrid vs Inter Milan
Real Madrid come into this game on the back of an away defeat against Real Betis in LaLiga, while Inter are unbeaten so far and full of confidence with three wins out of three. Having come back from a 2–0 deficit against Napoli to win 3-2 in their last Serie A fixture, the Nerazzurri fans would be buzzing.
From an injury viewpoint, Los Blancos will miss a host of players, including Aurélien Tchouaméni, Endrick, Thiago Pitarch, Raúl Asensio, Éder Militão, and Rodrygo. As for Inter, they have almost everyone fit, though Djed Spence is a doubt but is back in training.
Real Madrid have a new coach, with the experienced José Mourinho back at the helm, and have performed well at home under him so far. Inter haven’t yet won a game against them in the Champions League in recent years. In fact, they last defeated them back in 1998.
We feel the trend may continue: while Real Madrid do have defensive issues, their front line and midfield are exceptional. With Inter also shipping goals left, right, and centre, we feel the hosts will take all three points from this game.
Score Prediction: Real Madrid 3–1 Inter
Borussia Dortmund vs Villarreal
Borussia Dortmund come into this fixture on the back of an away win against Hoffenheim in the German Bundesliga. They have played two league games, winning both. As for their Spanish opponents, they are yet to win a game in LaLiga, having lost two and drawn two. Their last game was a home defeat against Deportivo de A Coruña. The last time these two teams met, Dortmund thrashed Villarreal 4–0 at home.
Injury-wise, Ramy Bensebaini and Nico Schlotterbeck are out for Dortmund. Villarreal, meanwhile, may only be without Juan Foyth and Carlos Romero for this game.
Dortmund are definitely the stronger team of the two, and they have home advantage in this fixture. Villarreal do have a mostly fully fit squad, but they are not in good form and have a leaky defence that the BVB front line could exploit. We believe Dortmund should win this one comfortably.
Score Prediction: BVB 2–0 Villarreal
Lille vs Real Betis
Lille are unbeaten in Ligue 1 with two wins and a draw, while Betis have three wins and a loss from their first four LaLiga games and had a great outing at the weekend: they defeated Real Madrid in dramatic fashion, with their forward Troy Parrott scoring the only goal of the game and Kylian Mbappé missing a late penalty to earn his side a draw.
Injury-wise, Lille will just have one injury miss in Tanguy Nianzou Kouassi, who is out for about two weeks. As for Betis, they could miss a couple of players such as Abde Ezzalzouli, Giovani Lo Celso, Diego Conde, and Aitor Ruibal for this fixture.
These two teams previously played each other in the competition only once, in 2018, and the game ended in an entertaining 2–2 draw. However, that was quite a while ago and both teams have different personnel now. That said, we believe this will be an even game as well and end in a draw.
Score Prediction: Lille 1–1 Real Betis
Barcelona vs Feyenoord
LaLiga champions Barcelona have started their league campaign well yet again with four wins out of four. They are blowing away oppositions, having already scored a whopping 17 goals in four games. As for their Dutch opponents, Feyenoord are also unbeaten in the Eredivisie so far and won their last league encounter comfortably. This is the first time these sides are meeting each other since 1974.
Jesse Bisiwu and Frenkie de Jong will be out for Barça due to injury issues. Meanwhile, Feyenoord will be without Bart Nieuwkoop, Gijs Smal, Jordan Bos, and Jakub Moder.
Both teams have been in great form, but Barça at home are a very different proposition. Their front line of Anthony Gordon, Lamine Yamal, and Raphinha have been running riot in the league, while Rodri and Pedri are controlling the game in midfield. With the Blaugrana in such threatening form, it would take a herculean effort from Feyenoord to stop them. We feel the hosts will win this game comfortably.
Score Prediction: Barça 4–1 Feyenoord
VfB Stuttgart vs Viking
This is a first-time encounter, with Viking making their Champions League debut. The Norwegian league, Eliteserien, has two teams in the league phase this season, with Bodø/Glimt returning for another campaign.
Stuttgart suffered a humiliating defeat against Bayern Munich in their opening league game but responded superbly in the second to win 4–1 against Köln last weekend. As for Viking, they are placed second in their league, having won 14 out of 19 games with two losses and three draws. Their most recent game was a 1–1 draw against Sandefjord, against whom one of their players, Jesper Daland, was dismissed early in the first half for a red-card offence.
From an injury viewpoint, Tiago Tomás, Dennis Seimen, Lorenz Assignon, Luca Jaquez, and Nikolas Nartey are out on the sidelines for Stuttgart. As for their opponents, they may be without Kristoffer Haugen, Nick D’Agostino, Henrik Falchener, Martin Ove Roseth, Anders Bærtelsen, and Veton Berisha for this game.
Since both teams are meeting each other for the first time, they may not be aware of each other’s style of play too much. That said, Stuttgart have some very exciting forwards who can trouble Viking, though they are also prone to conceding goals. We believe this could be an entertaining affair with goals galore, but we expect Stuttgart to edge it just about.
Score Prediction: Stuttgart 3–2 Viking
Liverpool vs Atlético Madrid
Liverpool come into this game with a much-needed confidence boost, having earned their first win of the season by beating Ipswich Town 2–0 on Friday. In contrast, Atleti wouldn’t feel the same away on a tough away ground, as they come into this match on the back of a 3–0 mauling from Athletic Club.
This is a repeat of last season’s league phase opening encounter, which Liverpool won 3–2. However, the Rojiblancos were 2–0 down in that game at one point before coming to draw 2–2 before Liverpool broke their hearts in stoppage time to take all three points.
Injury-wise, Liverpool have a fair few out, with Conor Bradley, Joe Gomez, Hugo Ekitiké, and Giovanni Leoni still recovering from long-term injuries. As for Atlético, Arnau Ortiz is suspended, while Alexander Sørloth is out with a muscle injury.
There’s never a dull moment when these two teams meet. Goals galore and exciting ends have been the highlight of their encounters, and we don’t expect anything less this time either. Liverpool are starting to look better under new head coach Andoni Iraola, but they still have issues in defence that the Atleti forwards can exploit. It’s going to be a close game, but we feel Liverpool, with the home advantage, could just about win this one.
Score Prediction: Liverpool 2–1 Atleti
Napoli vs Arsenal
Napoli have had an underwhelming start to their Serie A campaign under head coach Max Allegri, with their recent game exposing a bit of their frailties from last season as they capitulated against Inter Milan, going from having a two-goal lead to lose 3–2 right at the end. Arsenal, on the other hand, have started the season with three wins in three, including an impressive comeback 2–1 win over Chelsea, conceding just one goal in that run and showcasing some newfound attacking swagger.
Napoli do have a few injury concerns in their ranks ahead of their UCL opener, with Alessandro Buongiorno out with a knee injury and Scott McTominay out for at least a month due to a minor heart issue that required surgery. Arsenal themselves have injury issues, with William Saliba, Jurriën Timber, and Cristhian Mosquera all out with back, knee, and hamstring issues, respectively.
Napoli do not have a good record in the Champions League and will be desperate to change that this time around, while Arsenal will be looking to go all the way after narrowly missing out last time around. Expect Arsenal to take this game fairly easily.
Score Prediction: Napoli 0-2 Arsenal
Paris Saint-Germain vs Slovan Bratislava
The defending champions have not had the best of starts to their Ligue 1 campaign. They’ve gone winless in their first four games of the season, including a 2–1 defeat in their most recent game against Monaco. Slovan Bratislava, meanwhile, come into this game on the back of inconsistent form, losing their latest game 2–0 against Dunajská Streda and sitting fourth in the Slovak First Football League table following back-to-back defeats.
The Parisians have no major injury worries for this game, with many of their key players back in training. Slovan, on the other hand, have just one key injury absence, with striker Mykola Kukharevych missing this game with an undisclosed problem.
Despite their poor start, Luis Enrique’s side will be highly favoured to win this game, while their opponents have absolutely nothing to lose and will give this an almighty go.
Score Prediction: PSG 4-0 Slovan Bratislava
Sporting vs Galatasaray
Sporting will definitely look to build on their impressive campaign last time out, which saw them make the quarter-finals of the competition, as they take on a Galatasaray side who, on their part, made it to the round of 16. The Leões arrive in good form, having won their last three games, their latest one being a 2–0 win over Nacional, while the Aslanlar are unbeaten in four games and come into this game on the back of an impressive 3–2 win against Istanbul Basaksehir.
Nuno Santos and João Simões will miss out for Sporting due to a muscle and foot injury, respectively, while Galatasaray will be without Victor Osimhen, who was injured against Basaksehir, while Mario Lemina will be out too, though he is inching close to a return.
Both these sides are unbeaten and have been scoring goals for fun, so expect this to be another goal-fest. We expect this to be a fun draw for the neutrals.
Score Predictions: Sporting 2-2 Galatasaray
Fenerbahçe vs Roma
Fenerbahçe have not had the best of starts to their Süper Lig given the outlay in the summer. They have lost their last two games, including a 2–1 defeat against local rivals Be?ikta?, and find themselves ninth in the league table. Roma, on the other hand, have become one of the most exciting teams in Europe and have been scoring goals for fun, with their most recent victory being a hard-fought 2–1 win over Atalanta.
For this game, Fenerbahçe are without the services of Jayden Oosterwolde, who is out with a muscle tear, and Marco Asensio, who is out with a hamstring strain. Roma, meanwhile, will be without Lorenzo Pellegrini and Evan Ndicka due to injury.
The Turkish giants will have a hard time trying to stop this irresistible Roma attack led by Donyell Malen. If this game turns out to be similar in any way to the 3–3 friendly draw that came about 12 years ago, marking the only time in recent recorded history these two sides have met, then we are in for a treat. But it looks like the Giallorossi will be the ones enjoying the win and most of the goals this time around.
Score Prediction: Fenerbahce 1–4 Roma
PSV Eindhoven vs Shakhtar Donetsk
PSV Eindhoven are in stellar form coming into this clash against Ukrainian heavyweights Shakhtar Donetsk, having scored 14 goals in their last three outings, which includes a resounding 3–1 win over fierce rivals Ajax. Shakhtar, on the other hand, have won two of their last three games.
Both sides find themselves in huge injury mires ahead of this clash. PSV will be without Jerdy Schouten, Adamo Magalo, Alassane Plea, Dennis Man, and Kiliann Sildillia for this game, while Shakhtar will miss Marlon, Euginaldo, Pedrinho, Alan Matturo, and Kiril Feysun.
This is once again a game that promises a ton of goals in it, but PSV look the side more likely to take all three points.
Score Prediction: PSV 3–1 Shakhtar Donetsk
Bayern Munich vs Bodø/Glimt
Bayern started their campaign with a win and a draw, their latest result being a goalless draw against newly promoted Schalke. Bodø/Glimt, on the other hand, are unbeaten in their last five games and look in fine fettle, currently topping the Eliteserien table after 19 games.
Serge Gnabry will be the sole injury absentee for Bayern, while Bodø have several first-team injuries to contend with, including key players such as Håkon Evjen, August Mikkelsen, and Jostein Gunderson.
Despite Bodø being in the form that they are, as well as given their record against some big teams last season, Bayern Munich are a step too far for them and therefore are heavy favourites to win the match.
Score Prediction: Bayern 4–2 Bodø/Glimt
Slavia Prague vs Lens
Slavia Prague will fancy their chances against Lens, given they are fresh off a convincing 4–0 win over Zbrojovka Brno to go top of the Czech First League table after seven games. Lens have had an unconvincing start to the season, having lost two of their first three games, including a 1–0 loss against Lorient in their last outing.
With the exception of defender Igoh Ogbu, Slavia have most of their squad available for selection. Lens, on the other hand, also have a mostly fit squad to choose from apart from Maik Nawrocki, who suffered an ACL tear a week ago and is out for the season.
This is a battle of the unknowns, relatively speaking. That said, Slavia are our favourites for the win here. Lens, having lost their manager and key players over the summer, have started the season poorly, and it may take some time before we see them putting up the performances that have brought them to the Champions League.
Score Prediction: Slavia Praha 2–1 Lens
Como vs RB Leipzig
Como geared up for their first-ever campaign in the Champions League with a thumping 4–1 win over Genoa, continuing their unbeaten start to the new season. RB Leipzig, on the other hand, slumped to a 3–1 defeat at the hands of Werder Bremen, making it a rather unfavourable start to the season for them.
Como are without Jayden Addai and Maxi Perrone for this game, while Leipzig are without as many as seven players: Christoph Baumgartner leads the list carrying the injured names, with Brajan Gruda, Romulo, and Castello Lukeba also on the treatment table.
Como start this game as our clear favourites for the win and will look to make an instant impact on their Champions League debut.
Score Prediction: Como 2–0 Leipzig
Manchester United vs Sabah
Manchester United are back in the Champions League and start with a favourable fixture against Azerbaijani debutants Sabah. That said, the Red Devils were left stunned with a last-gasp equaliser last time out that saw them drop points against Everton in a 2–2 draw at Hill Dickinson Stadium. Sabah, meanwhile, have warmed up for their trip to Old Trafford with a thumping 5–0 win over Zira in the Azerbaijan Premier League, continuing their undefeated start to the season.
Man United will be without new signing Carlos Baleba and Amad for this game. Marcus Rashford is doubtful after discomfort in the Everton game, while Matthijs de Ligt is also in doubt. Sabah, on the other hand, do not have such problems as they have an almost fully fit squad available for selection.
United have no option but to win what is an indisputably favourable opening game, while Sabah have the opportunity to cause arguably the biggest upset of the opening round given the uncertain nature of form of their illustrious opponents. But for now, Man United start this contest as favourites.
Score Prediction: Man United 3–1 Sabah
