Champions League 2026-27: Real Madrid’s eight league-phase matches revealed

Real Madrid will begin their 2026-27 UEFA Champions League campaign at home to Inter on 8 September, after UEFA confirmed the full schedule for the competition’s league phase.

The Spanish club face a demanding opening round of fixtures, with an away match against Arsenal also included in their eight-game programme. Real Madrid will play four matches at the Santiago Bernabeu and four away from home against eight different opponents.

Their first match will see Inter visit the Santiago Bernabeu on 8 September, in what promises to be one of the standout fixtures of the opening round.

Real Madrid’s complete schedule is:

– 8 September: Real Madrid v Inter Santiago Bernabeu – 14 October: Roma v Real Madrid away – 21 October: Real Madrid v Leipzig Santiago Bernabeu – 4 November: AEK Athens v Real Madrid away – 24 November: Real Madrid v PSV Eindhoven Santiago Bernabeu – 9 December: Arsenal v Real Madrid away – 19 January: Real Madrid v LASK Santiago Bernabeu – 27 January: Shakhtar Donetsk v Real Madrid away

UEFA announced the dates on Saturday following the draw for the league phase, which produced a series of high-profile fixtures for Real Madrid.

The club’s home meetings with Inter, Leipzig, PSV Eindhoven and LASK will be balanced by away trips to Roma, AEK Athens, Arsenal and Shakhtar Donetsk. The fixture against Arsenal on 9 December is the final away match in the schedule before Real Madrid complete their league-phase campaign at home to LASK on 19 January and away to Shakhtar Donetsk on 27 January.

The draw has been made under the Champions League’s new format, which features 36 clubs in one league table rather than separate groups.

Each team plays eight matches against eight different opponents. Those fixtures consist of two opponents from each seeding category, with one match at home and one away against teams from each category.

The eight clubs finishing highest in the league table will qualify directly for the last 16.

Teams placed from ninth to 24th will enter a two-legged play-off, with the winners taking the remaining places in the last 16. Clubs finishing from 25th to 36th will be eliminated from the competition and will not transfer into the Europa League.

Real Madrid’s schedule therefore provides a mixture of major European tests and fixtures against clubs from across the competition’s field, beginning with Inter in Madrid before the club starts its run of away matches and concludes the league phase in January.