Champions League draw gives Yan Diomande a Real Madrid reunion and sets up a Bouaddi-Hakimi clash

The 2026-27 Champions League league-phase draw has created a series of notable fixtures for Africa’s leading players, including Yan Diomande’s return to former club Leipzig and a Morocco international meeting between Ayyoub Bouaddi and Achraf Hakimi.

UEFA conducted the draw in Monaco on Thursday, setting the schedule for the opening stage of this season’s competition.

Diomande, who joined Real Madrid this summer for a reported club-record fee of 140m euros including bonuses, will face Leipzig, the club he left before moving to Spain. The Ivory Coast forward has had limited opportunities in domestic football so far, but the Champions League could provide him with a bigger platform to demonstrate his ability.

A meeting between two Morocco internationals is also on the fixture list. Bouaddi, who has recently joined Manchester City, is due to face Hakimi in the first round. Hakimi, Paris St-Germain’s captain and a two-time defending Champions League winner with the club, will meet his international team-mate from the opening matchday.

Bouaddi is also set for a return to France, and specifically to the north of the country, after leaving Lille. The former Lille player will face Lens, his former club’s former local rival, rather than being reunited with the club where he began his career.

There will be further all-Morocco contests involving Ismael Saibari. The Bayern Munich player could come up against Manchester United’s Noussair Mazraoui, as well as Ez Abde if the forward remains at Real Betis. Abde is being followed by Newcastle. Saibari is also scheduled to face Hamza Igamane, who plays for Lille.

The draw has produced several fixtures involving Algerian players, too. Borussia Dortmund’s meeting with Sabah will bring together Ramy Bensebaini and three Algerians in the opposing side: Akim Zedadka, Zinedine Ould Khaled and Younes Lachaab.

Another contest involving players from Algeria will see Rayan Ait-Nouri of Manchester City go up against Yacine Titraoui of Lens.

The competition will also provide a demanding European test for Yaya Toure, who is in charge of Slovan Bratislava. Toure became the first African coach to lead a team into the Champions League, and his side have been drawn to face Paris St-Germain, Inter Milan, Real Betis, Roma, Lille, Shakhtar Donetsk, Stuttgart and LASK.

The league-phase format means African players and coaches will have several opportunities to meet familiar opponents during the opening stage, with the draw bringing together international team-mates, former clubs and domestic rivals.