Champions League, the single-table phase kicks off with four Italian teams

The first matchday of the league phase of the 2026/2027 Champions League begins today, Tuesday 15 September. The tournament, according to the official UEFA calendar, adopts a single-table format, and features four Italian teams as protagonists: Inter, Napoli, Roma and Como. The first matchday window runs from 15 to 17 September, with fixtures spread over several days for the various participating teams.

The presence of four Italian clubs is in itself a significant fact for the national game: it does not often happen that the number of teams from a single country competing in the top European club competition reaches this figure, a sign of a movement that has gained ground in the continental ranking in recent years. Inter and Napoli come into the fixture with the experience of the most recent European campaigns, Roma returns to compete at the highest level of continental club football, while Como represents the most significant newcomer: the Lombard club’s qualification testifies to a growth path that has brought the club to compete at the top of the international scene.

The new single-table format, which replaces the traditional group-stage phase with separate groups, means teams face a schedule of matches against different opponents compared to the past, with a unified standings mechanism determining access to the subsequent stages of the tournament. The four Italian teams will therefore face a wider range of European teams compared to past editions, in a system aimed at ensuring greater unpredictability and a higher number of marquee matches from the very first matchdays.

It should be noted that, at present, the news on the start of the league phase and on the composition of the four Italian teams comes from a single source (the official UEFA calendar as reported by Fanpage); no further independent confirmation is available. This is, however, information of a scheduling nature and not a claim that can be disputed on its merits, a circumstance that lessens the need for cross-checking, which is nonetheless maintained for the sake of transparency towards readers.

The start of the Champions League overlaps with an already packed Italian calendar. On the same day, Tuesday 15 September, two Coppa Italia matches are also being played: Genoa-Südtirol and Fiorentina-Pisa, according to the national competition’s calendar. The overlap between European and domestic commitments confirms a particularly dense start to the season for Italian clubs, called upon to manage energy, rotations and squad planning on multiple fronts within just a few weeks.

For the four Italian clubs competing in Europe, the first matchday of the league phase represents an immediate test to gauge the level of competitiveness of the national championship in the continental context. The new single-table system, now applied to a larger number of Italian representatives than in the past, will provide in the coming weeks a first concrete indication of the teams’ ability to withstand the pace of a format that includes a greater number of separate matches for each initial stage of the tournament.

The combination of the debut of the new European format and the parallel start of the Coppa Italia outlines a season picture that, from the very first days of September, tests the depth of Italian squads across multiple competitions at once.