Real Madrid draw Arsenal and Inter in Champions League league phase

As has been the case in other competitions in which they have played, Real Madrid have not had a lot of luck in their favorite competition, the UEFA Champions League, either during the last two years. After winning their last UCL title in the 2023-24 season, the Merengues saw their European campaigns end at the quarter-final stage in the last two seasons, as they fell to Arsenal and Bayern Munich respectively.

Now, Los Blancos are set to begin another Champions League journey, and their roadmap for the first phase of the upcoming campaign. As MARCA has reported, the UCL 2026-27 League Phase draw took place today, on Thursday, and Real Madrid now know which opponents they will be facing in this initial stage of the competition.

Jose Mourinho’s team will face the following teams in the League Phase: Inter (home), Arsenal (away), PSV (home), Roma (away), Leipzig (home), Shakhtar Donetsk (away), LASK (home) and AEK Athens (away).

The first two games are undoubtedly going to be the most eagerly anticipated ones for the Los Blancos fans. Inter Milan are the current Serie A champions, while Arsenal are the Premier League champions.

Furthermore, Real Madrid have never beaten the Gunners in a UCL tie, and their wounds would still be somewhat fresh from the 2024-25 campaign, when the London side eliminated them from the top European competition at the quarter-final stage. The Premier League side was also one of the finalists in the last edition of the UCL, and was kept from winning the competition only by PSG.

Roma and Leipzig, former clubs of Jose Mourinho and Yan Diomande respectively, would also be tough rivals for the Merengues, while the Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk have also proven to be a tricky opponent for Los Blancos in some of the recent UCL campaigns.

However, with the team they have and the reinforcements they have brought to the team this summer, there is no doubt that Real Madrid have the quality to beat all of these sides and to qualify directly for the knockout rounds of the competition.