Sports
UEFA Champions League 2026-27 Season Set to Begin: Format, Teams and Key Matches Explained
By Redaktion blue Sport 07.09.2026, 15:28 • 07.09.2026, 20:42
The 2026–27 UEFA Champions League season will begin on Tuesday, September 8, 2026. Ahead of the opening matches, here is an overview of the competition's format, participating teams, and early fixtures.
The tournament again features a league phase involving 36 teams. Each club will play eight matches against eight different opponents, split evenly between four home games and four away games. Notably, only 18 teams from last season's competition are returning.
Newcomers to this season's competition include AEK Athens, Aston Villa, Como, Fenerbahçe, Feyenoord, LASK, Lens, Lille, Manchester United, Porto, Real Betis, RB Leipzig, Roma, Sabah, Shakhtar Donetsk, Slovan Bratislava, Stuttgart, and Viking Stavanger. Among these, Como, LASK, Sabah, and Viking Stavanger will be making their Champions League debuts.
All 36 participating clubs will be ranked in a single standings table after the league phase concludes. The top eight finishers will advance directly to the round of 16. Clubs finishing between 9th and 24th place will compete in knockout playoffs for the remaining eight spots in the round of 16. Teams that finish between 25th and 36th will be eliminated from the competition entirely.
Since each club faces a unique set of opponents, several high-profile matchups are scheduled across the opening matchdays. On September 8, one of the standout fixtures will see Real Madrid take on Inter Milan. The following day, September 9, Liverpool will face Atlético Madrid, while Napoli hosts Arsenal. On September 10, Bayern Munich will play Bodø/Glimt, and Manchester United will take on Sabah.
All Champions League matches this season will be broadcast by blue Sport, with a subscription available for 19.90 Swiss francs per month for the first six months.
Defending champion Paris Saint-Germain enters the season as one of the favorites, with bookmakers placing the club slightly ahead of Arsenal, Barcelona, and Bayern Munich in title odds. Record champion Real Madrid is also considered a strong contender, followed by Manchester City, Liverpool, and Inter Milan.
No Swiss clubs will compete in this season's Champions League. Defending Swiss champion Thun was eliminated by Dinamo Zagreb in the second qualifying round. However, Swiss players will still be represented in the competition through their foreign clubs. Eight Swiss players were initially set to compete in the league phase, though this number is expected to drop to seven following Kutesa's anticipated return to Servette. Additionally, Leonidas Stergiou, who is under contract with VfB Stuttgart, was not registered for the league phase despite being part of the squad.