Champions League, Monte Carlo draw pits Real Madrid against Inter and Roma
The 36 teams in the 2026/27 league phase have learned their eight opponents. Napoli face Arsenal and Manchester City, Como make their debut against Barcelona and PSG. Matchday one runs from September 8 to 10.
The draw for the league phase of the 2026/27 Champions League took place on Thursday, August 27 in Monte Carlo. The format follows the single-table system introduced with the expansion to 36 clubs: each club faces eight different opponents, two from each of the four pots, four matches at home and four away, with no groups. There is a single final standings table, common to all participants.
Four Italian clubs have qualified: Inter in pot one, Roma in pot two, Napoli in pot three and Como in pot four, the latter making its first-ever appearance in the competition. Details are published on the UEFA website.
The pairings
Inter will host Liverpool, Club Brugge, Shakhtar and Stuttgart at San Siro, and will play away against Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Feyenoord and Slovan Bratislava.
| Inter | Opponents |
|---|---|
| Home | Liverpool, Club Brugge, Shakhtar, Stuttgart |
| Away | Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Feyenoord, Slovan Bratislava |
Roma will meet Real Madrid at the Olimpico and will travel to face Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United. Napoli will face Arsenal and Manchester City; Como will make their competition debut with Barcelona and PSG among the drawn opponents. Full fixture lists are reported by Sky Sport and by Goal.com Italia.
How teams advance
The structure of the league phase determines the outcome arithmetically: the top eight in the single standings table advance directly to the round of 16, the teams ranked from ninth to twenty-fourth go through the playoffs, and the bottom twelve are eliminated. This is the model that replaced the old four-team group system, in which second place was enough to qualify: here the margin for error depends on how thirty-five opponents perform, not three.
Matchday one will be played from September 8 to 10, 2026; the final matchday is set for January 27, 2027, with all matches played simultaneously. The final will be held at the Estadio Metropolitano in Madrid on Saturday, June 5, 2027.
A clause worth reading
UEFA’s statement contains a clarification that almost never appears in the ordinary calendar: the draws are provisional and subject to the outcome of ongoing investigations and proceedings, as well as to final confirmation. This is a formula concerning clubs’ admission to the competition and one that, in principle, could alter the composition of the bracket. The regulation and its application are examined by Calcio e Finanza.
The next step is technical but will shape the rest of the season: UEFA will announce the schedule with dates and kick-off times for each match by Saturday, August 29. Until then, the pairings exist, but their timing does not — and it is on that timing that national league rotations, travel and broadcasts depend.
What we don’t know
It is not known which proceedings UEFA has in mind in the provisionality clause, nor by when they will be resolved. Dates and kick-off times for individual matches are not yet available, expected by Saturday. The criteria for distributing matches across the different time slots have not been announced, a factor that in recent years has fueled club complaints over matches scheduled immediately after domestic league fixtures.
The first verifiable date remains September 8, when the league phase begins with the first of eight matchdays.
Sources: UEFA.com; Sky Sport; Calcio e Finanza; Goal.com Italia.
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