Champions League: Five key talking points for the 2026-27 season
Arsenal and Bayern lead the challengers to PSG, Mourinho aims for glory with Real and Italian minnows Como make debut.
This season’s league phase of the Champions League kicks off on Tuesday, with Real Madrid vs Inter Milan and Porto vs Man City among the standout games on the first evening.
Two-time defending champions Paris Saint-Germain are looking to make it three in a row and are the team to beat. In last week’s draw, they were handed meetings with Barcelona, Manchester City and Aston Villa, among their eight matches in the league phase of this season’s Champions League.
But several other teams fancy their chances of toppling the Parisians, including last year’s runners-up Arsenal, and Bayern Munich, who pushed PSG hard in the semifinal.
Bayern’s summer business has been more about retention than reinforcement – trying to fend off interest in Michael Olise and get him to extend his contract. Bayern probably just need some small tweaks around game management and the little bit of luck that every successful team needs to overhaul PSG this season.