Holders Paris Saint-Germain will face Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League group phase after Thursday’s draw in Monaco produced a series of heavyweight ties. PSG are also set to meet Bayern Munich, with Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle among the other opponents on their eight-game slate, underlining the demanding start to their title defence.
Real Madrid drew both Manchester City and Liverpool, setting up repeats of recent knockout epics. Madrid’s club site later listed their full set of eight opponents as City, Liverpool, Juventus, Benfica, Marseille, Monaco, Olympiacos and Kairat Almaty, the Kazakh debutants, handed a marquee assignment in their first league-phase campaign.
English clubs face arduous schedules across the board. Liverpool will also meet Inter and Atlético Madrid, while Chelsea’s programme features Barcelona and Bayern. Arsenal were paired with Bayern and Inter, and Tottenham, Europa League holders, were drawn to play PSG as well as a trip to Norway to face Bodø/Glimt. Newcastle, back in the competition, will take on Barcelona and the holders PSG.
The draw follows UEFA’s “league-phase” (Swiss-style) format introduced last season: 36 clubs each play eight fixtures, two opponents from each pot, one home and one away, with country protection in place and a limit of two opponents from the same nation. The top eight advance directly to the round of 16; teams placed 9th–24th enter knockout play-offs.
To watch all the details of the Champions League draw watch: https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/draws/2026/2002110/
Fixture dates and kick-off times for all eight matchdays will be published by UEFA no later than Saturday 30 August, with the league phase running from mid-September to late January.
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