Champions League Returns: Mourinho Faces Inter
Eighteen games across three days launch the 2026-27 Champions League, headlined by Jose Mourinho's return to the Bernabeu as Real Madrid host Inter.
A New Era Continues
The Champions League's 36-team single league phase, introduced in 2024-25, kicks off its third season this week. Every club plays eight different opponents rather than the old eight-team groups, with the top eight in the combined table advancing straight to the round of 16 and teams ranked 9th to 24th going into a knockout play-off round. Matchday 1 is split across three days, Tuesday 8 September to Thursday 10 September, with 18 matches in total. This season's final is on 5 June 2027 at the Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid.
Tuesday 8 September
18:45 CET: AEK Athens vs LASK 18:45 CET: Club Brugge vs Aston Villa 21:00 CET: Borussia Dortmund vs Villarreal 21:00 CET: Porto vs Manchester City 21:00 CET: Lille vs Real Betis 21:00 CET: Real Madrid vs Inter
Wednesday 9 September
18:45 CET: Barcelona vs Feyenoord 18:45 CET: VfB Stuttgart vs Viking 21:00 CET: Liverpool vs Atletico Madrid 21:00 CET: Paris Saint-Germain vs Slovan Bratislava 21:00 CET: Sporting CP vs Galatasaray 21:00 CET: Napoli vs Arsenal
Thursday 10 September
18:45 CET: Fenerbahce vs Roma 18:45 CET: PSV Eindhoven vs Shakhtar Donetsk 21:00 CET: Como vs RB Leipzig 21:00 CET: Bayern Munich vs Bodo/Glimt 21:00 CET: Manchester United vs Sabah 21:00 CET: Slavia Prague vs Lens
Headline Fixture: Real Madrid vs Inter
Tuesday's late kickoff at the Bernabeu is the pick of the opening round. It puts Jose Mourinho, who won a Treble with Inter back in 2009-10, on the opposite touchline from his old club for the first time, in his first game against Inter since starting a second spell in charge of Real Madrid this summer (his first, from 2010 to 2013, also ended before a move to Milan). Denzel Dumfries lines up for the home side too, straight after leaving Inter for Madrid following five years in Milan. Real Madrid have had a mixed lead-in: three straight wins to open their league season, then a 1-0 defeat at Real Betis last time out. Kylian Mbappe hasn't slowed down regardless, scoring in all four of his league appearances so far. Michael Oliver takes charge as referee.
New Faces At Europe's Top Table
Four clubs are appearing at this level for the first time since the competition moved to a group or league phase: Como, LASK, Sabah and Viking. Como's case is the most striking - Thursday's home match against RB Leipzig will be the club's first European fixture of any kind. Sabah's appearance makes them the first Azerbaijani club to reach a major UEFA competition's group or league phase. Norway has two clubs in the same Champions League season for the first time since 1999-2000, and this is the first time since 2007-08 that two Turkish clubs, Galatasaray and Fenerbahce, have both made the league phase.