UEFA Champions League 2025/26 draw: Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool learn their league stage opponents

Chelsea, Arsenal, and Liverpool have learnt their UEFA Champions League opponents for the league phase. The Premier League sides will face eight different clubs for a place in the knockout stage.

Arsenal have a challenging set of opponents, including Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid, Olympiacos, and Kairat Almaty, at the Emirates in the league phase. Their away games are at Inter Milan, Club Brugge, Slavia Praha, and Athletic Bilbao.

Chelsea have an interesting draw in their hands with home clashes against Barcelona, Benfica, Ajax, and Pafos. Bayern Munich, Napoli, Atalanta, and Qarabag will be the away games for Enzo Maresca's side.

The Blues have David Luiz returning to Stamford Bridge with Pafos, while Enzo Fernandez will face his former side, Benfica. They have been linked with Fermin Lopez, and the Spaniard could face his former side, Barcelona, if he makes the move before deadline day.

Liverpool have been drawn to face Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, PSV, and Qarabag at home this season. Their away matches in the league phase will see them traveling to take on Inter Milan, Eintracht Frankfurt, Marseille, and Galatasaray.

The hot topic among the Reds faithful after the UEFA Champions League draw has been the return of Trent Alexander-Arnold to Anfield.

Where was the UEFA Champions League draw?

The UEFA Champions League's league phase draw was held in Monaco on Thursday, August 28. Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Kaka were present to help with the draw for the 36 teams involved in the tournament this season.

The clubs are fighting for a place in the final, which is scheduled for May 30, 2026, in Budapest, Hungary. The matches in the league phase will be played from September 16 to January 28, with the Top 8 qualifying for the Round 16, while the sides finishing 9th to 24th will battle for the remaining eight spots via a playoff.

About the author

Sripad is a veteran Sportskeeda football journalist who has been with the company for around 10 years. His tryst with writing happened in class XI when he started penning blogs, and his foray into football was during the early 2000s, watching matches with his cousins.

Sripad has been a Chelsea fan through and through since the age of 9 and can watch their 2012 Champions League triumph on repeat. The undisputed ‘GOAT’ according to him is Lionel Messi and his favorite managers are Jose Mourinho and Sir Alex Ferguson. Apart from popular European leagues, he also likes to follow other leagues like the MLS, Saudi Pro League, Eredivisie, and Liga MX.

Sripad believes in only using the right sources for his articles, and is an expert in understanding how to get the right quotes for each news to provide proper background information. His exploits have led him to become a popular figure in European Football and interviewing Premier League legends such as Alan Shearer, Shay Given, Paul Dickov, and John Barnes. His articles have been much revered amongst the football fraternity and have been shared by the likes of John Terry, Gary Lineker, and Declan Rice.

If given a chance to change a football rule, Sripad wants VAR to be fully automated and offside rules to be less stringent. When not working, he likes to watch past Formula 1 races and play FIFA.

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Edited by Sripad