MONACO, MONACO - AUGUST 27: General position of the UEFA Champions League trophy up of the tie astatine Grimaldi Forum connected August 27, 2026 successful Monaco, Monaco. (Photo by Francesco Scaccianoce - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
UEFA via Getty Images
A caller version of the Champions League came into clearer attraction connected Thursday pinch the tournament’s convention shape draw.
The Champions League, wide considered the top world shot nine competition, will commencement connected Sept. 8, pinch the first six rounds played done December. The convention phase, which resumes successful January, will reason pinch the eighth and last information connected Jan. 27.
The afloat schedule for each squad will beryllium revealed connected Saturday.
The apical 8 teams successful the last standings of the 36-team tourney suffice straight to the information of 16 successful March. Teams placed ninth to 24th participate the knockout playoffs successful February to determine the different 8 teams successful the information of 16. Teams placed 25th to 36th are eliminated.
Here’s what we learned from Thursday’s convention shape draw.
PSG look a superior title defense test
Paris Saint-Germain could hardly person asked for a much challenging commencement to their effort to take sides the Champions League trophy. The French champions will big Barcelona and recreation to look Manchester City, giving them 2 high-profile fixtures against teams pinch genuine European ambitions.
The gathering pinch Barcelona is peculiarly intriguing because PSG head Luis Enrique erstwhile managed the Catalan giants. PSG person besides enjoyed sizeable occurrence successful caller trips to Barcelona, winning 3 consecutive matches there, including a 2-1 triumph successful past season’s convention phase. Those wins person helped erase immoderate of the achy memories of the infamous 6-1 conclusion successful 2017, the lucifer remembered arsenic the “Remontada.”
PSG’s schedule does not go overmuch easier elsewhere. They will recreation to Italy to look Como, coached by erstwhile Barcelona and Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas. As a result, PSG will person small room for complacency if they want to decorativeness adjacent the apical of the convention phase.
Traditional heavyweights look off
Last season’s finalists Arsenal besides look an highly demanding schedule. They will meet 15-time champions Real Madrid arsenic good arsenic German powerhouses Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. Those games will supply an early denotation of whether Arsenal tin spell 1 measurement further aft reaching past season’s final.
There are besides respective reunions and rematches to look guardant to. Manchester United return to the Champions League aft a two-year absence and will look Bayern Munich, reviving memories of the celebrated 1999 final, erstwhile United produced a melodramatic comeback to triumph the trophy.
Real Madrid, meanwhile, will look different acquainted fig erstwhile they play Inter Milan. Jose Mourinho is backmost astatine Madrid this play and will travel up against the nine he guided to Champions League glory successful 2010. Madrid will besides recreation to London twice, facing Arsenal and Shakhtar Donetsk, pinch the Ukrainians playing their location matches astatine distant fixed the warfare pinch Russia.
Four clubs to make debut
Four newcomers will debut successful this Champions League edition: Como (Italy), LASK (Austria), Viking (Norway) and Sabah (Azerbaijan). Their inclusion adds different furniture of unpredictability to the competition.
Como will big some PSG and Manchester United astatine their picturesque lakeside stadium, while Sabah will invited Dortmund, Napoli and Slavia Prague.
Sabah head Valdas Dambrauskas has gotten plentifulness of attraction for his unusual shot root story. The money he won arsenic a contestant connected TV quiz show “Who Wants to beryllium a Millionaire” successful his autochthonal Lithuania funded his travel to return coaching courses successful England.
Another first this play will beryllium an African coach taking his squad into the convention phase. Former Manchester City and Barcelona prima Yaya Toure guided Slovakian champion Slovan Bratislava done the qualifying playoffs to scope the tournament.
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