2026-27 UEFA Champions League Kicks Off: Real Madrid Host Inter, Manchester City Visit Porto in Opening Night Fixtures

The league phase of the 2026-27 UEFA Champions League kicked off on Tuesday September 8 with six matches, headlined by Real Madrid hosting Inter Milan at 3 p.m. Eastern (21:00 CET) under new manager Jose Mourinho, who returned to the Spanish club in July after being appointed in June following the departure of Alvaro Arbeloa. Manchester City visit Porto, Borussia Dortmund face Villarreal, and Lille take on Real Betis in the other 21:00 CET fixtures, while earlier kickoffs at 18:45 CET saw AEK Athens host LASK, featuring Americans George Bello and Samuel Adeniran in their Champions League proper debut, and Club Brugge welcome Aston Villa. The 36-team league phase runs through Wednesday January 27, 2027, with each club playing eight matches against different opponents under the new format introduced in 2024-25. Wednesday September 9 fixtures include Barcelona hosting Feyenoord, Liverpool taking on Atletico Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain facing Slovan Bratislava, and Napoli welcoming Arsenal, with Thursday's slate featuring Bayern Munich versus Bodo/Glimt, Manchester United against Sabah, and Fenerbahce hosting Roma. The final is scheduled for June 5, 2027, at the Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid. This is the 72nd season of Europe's premier club football tournament organized by UEFA and the 35th since the rebranding from the European Cup to the UEFA Champions League. The expanded format sees all 36 teams competing in a single league table, with the top eight advancing directly to the round of 16 and teams ranked 9-24 entering a playoff round.