Inter awaits and Arsenal looms: a fiery Champions League draw for Real Madrid

Explosive clashes for Real Madrid

The draw for the league phase of the 2026-2027 UEFA Champions League handed Real Madrid a brutal set of fixtures. The Spanish giants will face eight clubs, four at home and four on the road.

Real Madrid open their campaign with a testing home clash against Italy's Inter. Their standout away trip takes them to England to face Arsenal.

Here are Real Madrid's league phase fixtures:

Real Madrid v Inter of Italy, at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Arsenal v Real Madrid, away.

Real Madrid v PSV Eindhoven of the Netherlands, at home.

Roma of Italy v Real Madrid, away.

Real Madrid v RB Leipzig of Germany, at home.

Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine v Real Madrid, away.

Real Madrid v LASK of Austria, at home.

AEK Athens of Greece v Real Madrid, away.

The draw falls under the new Champions League format, which packs 36 teams into a single league phase. Each side plays eight matches against eight different opponents, two from each seeding pot, one at home and one away.

Finish in the top eight and you go straight through to the round of 16. Teams placed ninth to 24th battle it out over two legs for the remaining spots, while those from 25th to last crash out of the tournament altogether, with no drop into the Europa League.

Action runs from 8 to 10 September 2026, with the final round set for 27 January 2027. The showpiece final will be staged in the Spanish capital, Madrid, on 5 June 2027.

Real Madrid's meeting with Arsenal looms as one of their toughest in the league phase, matched only by the clash with Inter. The trips and ties against PSV Eindhoven, Roma, Leipzig, Shakhtar, LASK and AEK Athens shape up as varied tests on the road to the knockout rounds.