Two-time defending champions Paris Saint-Germain were handed meetings with Barcelona, Manchester City and Aston Villa among their eight matches in the league phase of this season’s Champions League, as the draw took place on Thursday.
PSG, who beat Arsenal on penalties in Budapest in May to retain the trophy, will play Barcelona, Roma, Turkish champions Galatasaray and Slovan Bratislava of Slovakia at home.
Luis Enrique’s team will travel to England twice to face City and Villa. They beat both teams on the way to winning their first Champions League title in 2025 and also defeated the latter in the UEFA Super Cup in Austria earlier this month.
The French champions will also go to Spain to play Villarreal and Italy to take on a Como side coached by Cesc Fabregas.
“I can’t say anything bad about the Champions League, but I won’t be watching the draw. I will be relaxing and going out on my bike, then we’ll take a look at the menu. But I would sign up for the same result as in the last two years,” Luis Enrique told reporters earlier Thursday.
PSG are aiming to become European champions for a third straight year, something only the Real Madrid of 2016 to 2018 have achieved in the last 50 years.
The first matches in this season’s league phase will be played between Tuesday, September 8, and Thursday, September 10, with the final games in late January. UEFA is expected to announce the full fixture schedule on Saturday.
Last season’s runners-up Arsenal, the Premier League champions, will notably host Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Lille as well as Sabah, the club from Azerbaijan who came through four two-legged qualifying ties to reach the league phase for the first time.
The Gunners have a tough list of away ties against Bayern Munich, Real Betis, Napoli and Slavia Prague.
– Fenerbahce back, Viking in –
Andoni Iraola’s Liverpool will be at home to Atletico Madrid, Porto, Villarreal and Lens, while playing Inter Milan, Club Brugge, Fenerbahce and Austrian league phase debutants LASK away.
Manchester United, who were not in the first pot of seeds, have home games against Bayern, Roma, RB Leipzig and Sabah and also a series of difficult away fixtures against Atletico, Sporting of Portugal, Villarreal and Como.
Other notable games include Manchester City visiting Barcelona and Real Madrid entertaining Inter, while last season’s Europa League winners Villa must go to Barcelona and play Dortmund at home. Unai Emery’s team will also tackle Istanbul giants Galatasaray and Fenerbahce.
The latter are appearing in the Champions League proper for the first time since 2008/09 after beating Lyon in the play-offs this week.
New names in this season’s competition are Como, who have upset the traditional order in Serie A, and Sabah, while LASK made it to this stage for the first time after a stunning comeback win over Celtic in the play-offs.
Last year’s Norwegian champions Viking, from the city of Stavanger, have reached the Champions League proper for the first time too, and they have a glamorous fixture schedule that includes Bayern, Atletico, Villa and Napoli.
This is the third season since the introduction of the new format for the Champions League, with 36 teams now all pooled together in one giant league and each playing games against eight different opponents.
This season’s final will be played at the Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid on June 5, 2027.
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