PSG to Face Barcelona as Arsenal Draws Real Madrid in Champions League Draw

Defending champions Paris Saint-Germain will host Barcelona and travel to Manchester City following the 36-team league phase draw in Monaco.

Paris Saint-Germain begins the defense of their Champions League trophy with a home fixture against Barcelona and away trips to 2023 winners Manchester City and Europa League holders Aston Villa. The French champions, who secured a 2-1 victory over Barcelona in the league phase last October, have won three consecutive visits to the Spanish side since a 6-1 defeat in March 2017. Thursday's draw in Monaco assigned each of the 36 teams eight opponents—four home and four away—selected by software that drew two teams from each of the four seeding pots.

Arsenal faces a schedule featuring record 15-time winners Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, and Borussia Dortmund. Real Madrid coach José Mourinho, who returned to the club this summer, will also face his former team Inter Milan, whom he led to the 2010 title. Madrid is scheduled for two trips to London to play Arsenal and Shakhtar Donetsk. The Ukrainian champions are hosting home matches at Stamford Bridge.

Standout Matchups and Historic Rematches

Manchester United returns to the competition after a two-year absence to face Bayern Munich in a rematch of the 1999 final. Barcelona will host Manchester City and Aston Villa, while also traveling to Azerbaijan to face debutant Sabah in Baku. Liverpool’s eight-game slate includes trips to Inter Milan and Fenerbahce. Atlético Madrid will return to Anfield, where Liverpool earned a 3-2 victory last September.

Atlético Madrid is one of four teams, alongside Dortmund, Lille, and LASK, required to travel inside the Arctic Circle to face Bodo/Glimt on artificial turf. One of these fixtures is scheduled for January in the remote fishing town. The league phase begins September 8-10, with the first six rounds concluding in December. Following a winter break, the competition resumes in January, ending with a final round on January 27.

Debutants and Geographic Challenges

Four clubs are making their tournament debut: Como (Italy), LASK (Austria), Viking (Norway), and Sabah (Azerbaijan). Founded in 2017, Sabah will host Dortmund, Napoli, and Slavia Prague. Fans of the Azerbaijani club face two long-distance trips to England to play Manchester United and Arsenal.

Como, coached by Cesc Fàbregas, will host Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United at their lakeside stadium. The Italian side also travels to Spain for matches against Real Betis and Barcelona. Fàbregas will face his former club, Barcelona, as both a coach and a former player during this phase.

Tournament Format and Financial Stakes

Seeding for the draw was determined by team rankings based on European results over the previous five years. The 36 participating teams will share a prize pool of approximately €2.5 billion ($2.9 billion). Regulations prevented teams from being drawn against opponents from their own domestic league.

The top eight teams in the final league standings qualify directly for the round of 16 in March. Clubs finishing in 9th to 24th place will compete in knockout playoffs in February to determine the remaining eight spots. Teams finishing 25th to 36th will be eliminated from the competition. The full match schedule for all participants will be released this Saturday.