By Sachit Subba • Off-Field • Aug 28, 2026 01:20 AM • 35 views
Jose Mourinho will now enter a stadium he had previously conquered. Thursday's draw in Monaco pitted his Real Madrid team against Inter Milan, the club he led to a European title in 2010 before moving to the Bernabeu. It creates its own headlines and is only one element of a league-phase draw full of major clashes.
Paris Saint-Germain are listed at the top of the schedule. The team coached by Luis Enrique, who defended their title by beating Premier League champions Arsenal on penalties in May, will host Barcelona at the Parc des Princes and travel to Manchester City—probably the two most exciting matches to come out of the draw. PSG's other league-phase matches are against Roma, Aston Villa, Galatasaray, Villarreal, Slovan Bratislava and Como, a mix of established continental sides and newer entries in the competition's new 36-team format, now in its third season since the old group stage was replaced in 2024-25.
Real Madrid, who are aiming to win their 15th European title and set a record, are not having an easy time either. In addition to hosting Inter and welcoming Mourinho back to his former club, they have away matches against Arsenal and face PSV Eindhoven, Roma, RB Leipzig, Shakhtar Donetsk, LASK and AEK Athens—a mix of well-known European teams and opponents they usually do not meet.
Bayern Munich, who are six-time champions, drew the most attention with their home match against Arsenal at the Allianz Arena. Together with away games at Atletico Madrid and Manchester United, Bayern's season already looks like a tough trial before a single ball is kicked.
With Andoni Iraola now in charge after the change in management, Liverpool will assess themselves against Inter and Atletico in a tough series of league-phase matches.
This year, England and Spain lead in numbers. The two nations with the most representation in the competition are five English clubs—Arsenal, City, United, Villa and Liverpool—and five Spanish teams—Barcelona, Real Madrid, Villarreal, Atletico and Real Betis. Manchester United's return is noteworthy: after two seasons away from Europe's top tier, they now have a draw that includes an away match against Atletico and home games against both Bayern and Roma.
Don't forget Atletico Madrid. The team coached by Diego Simeone will host the final on June 5 — the second time the Metropolitano has hosted the match after Liverpool's 2-0 victory over Tottenham there in 2019 — but their route to that final looks extremely tough, since both Bayern and United are scheduled to play in Madrid and they will also travel to Anfield.
The league phase will start on September 8 and continue over eight matchdays until January 27. After that, the knockout stage will begin in February and lead up to Atletico's match in June.
Outside the pitch, UEFA presented its President's Award to Thierry Henry, the former Arsenal forward, bringing the draw ceremony to a close with a mix of nostalgia and excitement for the matches still ahead.
