2 min readUpdated: Aug 27, 2026 11:58 PM IST
Defending champions Paris St Germain will face Barcelona and Manchester City, while the latter will have a reunion with their former midfielder Rodri when they face the Catalan giants. Fifteen-time champions Real Madrid, meanwhile, face Arsenal at Thursday’s Champions League draw.
This will be the third season in which the Champions League will be played in the league-phase format, having been introduced in 2024/25.
Manchester United, who return to the tournament that they have won thrice after an absence of three seasons, will have a repeat of the 1999 Champions League final when they Bayern Munich at home. They will face Bayern Munich (home), Atletico Madrid (away), Roma (home), Sporting Club (away), Leipzig (home), Villarreal (away), Sabah (home), Como (away).
Premier League champions Arsenal face Real Madrid (home), Bayern Munich (away), Borussia Dortmund (home), Real Betis (away), Lille (home), Napoli (away), Sabah (home), Slavia Prague (away). Manchester City, in their first season in the Champions League in a decade without Pep Guardiola at the helm, play PSG (home), Barcelona (away), Sporting Club (home), Porto (away), Napoli (home), Leipzig (away), AEK Athens (home), Lens (away).
Real Madrid host Inter and travel to Arsenal. They will also face PSV Eindhoven, Roma, RB Leipzig, Shakhtar Donetsk, LASK and AEK Athens.
The meeting with Inter will see new Real manager Jose Mourinho face one of his former clubs. Mourinho, who returned for a second spell in charge of Real in June, guided Inter to the Champions League title in 2010 before leaving for the Santiago Bernabeu.
This season’s Champions League final will be played at Estadio Metropolitano – home of Atletico Madrid. The 70,000-capacity stadium was been awarded the men’s showpiece in 2025 after Milan’s San Siro was stripped of the honour.
Story continues below this ad
UEFA decided to reopen bidding for the event amid concerns about refurbishment plans at the San Siro – and the match will now take place in the Spanish capital. Madrid’s Estadio Metropolitano last hosted the Champions League final in 2019, when Liverpool beat Tottenham.