Champions League – League Stage Preview
The 36 teams to have qualified for the Champions League Stage of the tournament are now known, and better still all teams know the eight opponents they will face over the eight game days from September through to January.
Matches will take place on Tuesday, Wednesday and someThursdays of each game week and all teams will play two teams from each of the four seeded pools of teams. One fixture at home and one away against a different team from each of the four pools.
The full list of fixtures for the league stage was confirmed on Saturday 29th August, one day after the draw to confirm opponents. Let’s now preview some of the big games on each of the eight game weeks.
Top Champions League Fixtures
We’ve outlined the big games each week for the Premier League teams, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Paris St. Germain.
Matchday 1 – 8th – 10th September
- Club Brugge v Aston Villa
- FC Porto v Manchester City
- Real Madrid v Inter Milan
- Barcelona v Feyenoord
- Napoli v Arsenal
- Paris St. Germain v Slovan Bratislava
- Liverpool v Atletico Madrid
- Manchester United v Sabah
Matchday 2 – 13th – 14th October
- Galatasaray v Barcelona
- Arsenal v Lille
- Atletico Madrid v Manchester United
- LASK v Liverpool
- AS Roma v Real Madrid
- Aston Villa v Fenerbahce
- Manchester City v Paris St. Germain
Matchday 3 – 20th – 21st October
- Paris St. Germain v Barcelona
- Manchester City v AEK Athens
- Liverpool v Villarreal
- Como v Manchester United
- Bayern Munich v Arsenal
- Aston Villa v Viking
- Real Madrid v RB Leipzig
Matchday 4 – 3rd – 4th November
- Atletico Madrid v Bayern Munich
- Villarreal v Paris St. Germain
- Barcelona v Aston Villa
- Manchester United v AS Roma
- Fenerbahce v Liverpool
- AEK Athens v Real Madrid
- RB Leipzig v Manchester City
- Slavia Prague v Arsenal
Matchday 5 – 24th – 25th November
- Galatasaray v Aston Villa
- Arsenal v Borussia Dortmund
- Real Madrid v PSV
- Manchester City v Napoli
- Sabah v Barcelona
- Paris St. Germain v AS Roma
- Sporting Lisbon v Manchester United
- Lille v Bayern Munich
- Club Brugge v Liverpool
Matchday 6 – 8th – 9th December
- Bayern Munich v Slavia Prague
- Aston Villa v Paris St. Germain
- Manchester United v Red Bull Leipzig
- Barcelona v Manchester City
- Arsenal v Real Madrid
- Liverpool v FC Porto
Matchday 7 – 19th – 20th January
- Aston Villa v Borussia Dortmund
- Inter Milan v Liverpool
- Real Madrid v LASK
- Real Betis v Arsenal
- Como v Paris St. Germain
- Manchester United v Bayern Munich
- Lens v Manchester City
- Sporting Lisbon v Barcelona
Matchday 8 – 27th January
- Barcelona v Como
- Paris St. Germain v Galatasaray
- Shakhtar Donetsk v Real Madrid
- Arsenal v Sabah
- Villarreal v Manchester United
- Slavia Prague v Aston Villa
- Bayern Munich v Real Betis
- Liverpool v Lens
- Manchester City v Sporting Lisbon
Qualification
At the end of the eight Matchday’s, a total of 24 of the 36 teams will qualify for the knockout phase.
The teams finishing 1st to 8th in the final Champions League table will qualify directly for the Round of 16 and will be kept apart in the draw for the Round of 16 ties.
The teams finishing 9th to 24th in the table will enter the Preliminary Knockout Round. With the higher finishing teams (9th to 16th) given the advantage of having the second leg of the tie at home.
The winning teams from the Preliminary Knockout round will be drawn against one of the eight seeded teams in the Round of 16. Playing the first leg at home and the second leg away.
From then, the teams will be drawn against each other in subsequent rounds, playing over two legs until the final two teams remain.
They will meet in the final of the competition on the 5th June 2027 at the Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid in Spain.
Current Betting Odds
The latest odds to win the tournament are as follows:
- Paris St. Germain – 5-1 fav.
- Arsenal, Barcelona, Bayern Munich – 6/1
- Real Madrid – 13/2
- Manchester City – 9/1
- Liverpool – 12/1
- Manchester United – 20/1
- Inter Milan – 28/1
- Atletico Madrid – 33/1
- Aston Villa, Napoli, AS Roma, Borussia Dortmund – 40/1
- RB Leipzig, Real Betis, Villarreal – 50/1
- 66/1 – bar.
Favourites PSG are attempting to become the first team since Real Madrid in 2016, 2017 and 2018 to win three Champions League tournaments back-to-back.
You can either take these odds now, or wait until they change as the matches are played throughout the league stage over the coming months.
