A hundred days on from penalty kicks in Budapest, the league phase of the 2026-27 UEFA Champions League is upon us. Here, the Faculty looks ahead to some of the top storylines we expect to see out of the league phase, and two members of the Faculty attempt to select the league phase top and bottom teams. Each Matchday we’ll spotlight several key games and provide score predictions. We’ll return to these predictions after each matchday and look ahead to the next, keeping a rolling score of how we perform. 

Pot I – Eyes on Madrid

Arsenal, Atlético Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Liverpool, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid

While many eyes will undoubtedly be on Jose Mourinho’s return to Champions League football at the Bernabeu, their less glamorous Madrid rivals enjoyed a more successful campaign in 2025-26. After falling to Arsenal in the semi-final round, Atletico Madrid had a hectic summer. Talismanic captain Antoine Griezmann departed on a free to MLS, and the club spent north of €125 million on incomings Morten Hjulman (Sporting), Cristian Romero (Tottenham), Lee Kang-In (PSG), Alex Grimaldo (Leverkusen), and Jonathan David (Juventus, loan).

None of these signings surpassed the drama surrounding Barcelona’s attempt to prize away striker Julian Alvarez, who Diego Simeone will now have to reintegrate into the dressing room. Madrid have had a decent start to the domestic campaign (7 points of possible 12) but travel to Anfield for Matchday 1 on the backs of a 3-0 thumping at Athletic Bilbao. Their schedule doesn’t relent much, as they’ll host Manchester United on Matchday 2 and Bayern on Matchday 4. If they are in need of points at the end of the phase, they’ll have to do so away at Bodo in the January cold on Matchday 7 before finishing at home against Fenerbahce. 

Elsewhere: Andoni Iraola will face his first test in a European competition since 2018-19, when he managed Cypriot side AEK Larnaca in the Europe League. Inter Milan will look to wash the bitter taste of their exit to Bodo in last season’s knockout rounds.

Pot II – Refresh in Emery-ville

Aston Villa, Borussia Dortmund, Club Brugge, Manchester United, Porto, PSV Eindhoven, Real Betis, Roma, Sporting CP

Aston Villa will aim to continue their European momentum into the new season.  A summer of upheaval might dampen expectation in the Midlands, with so many of their established Europa League winners since departed. Between sales and loans, the departing players accounted for over 49% of total Europa league minutes in Villa’s title-winning campaign. They’ll need to get goals from incoming striker Nicolas Jackson and the host of young, dynamic attackers they’ve brought in – Evann Guessand (Nice), Ibrahim Mbaye (PSG), and Johan Manzambi (Freiburg). Expect this to be a much more challenging season for the Villains in Europe, with a battle to avoid an early exit. 

Elsewhere: Manchester United are back after a three year hiatus, as Michael Carrick takes charge of his first European campaign. Roma return after eight years away, with new manager Gian Piero Gasperini backed to the tune of nearly €125 million of summer signings. 

Pot III – Bodo Beckoning

Bodø/Glimt, Fenerbahçe, Feyenoord, Galatasaray, Lille, Napoli, RB Leipzig, Shakhtar Donetsk, Villarreal

Bodø made themselves a household name in last year’s competition, beating Guardiola’s City and Atletico Madrid to close the league phase, before shocking Serie A champions Inter Milan in the round of 32. Can they do it again with the element of surprise gone? Their squad remains largely intact, and they top the Eliteserien at the two-thirds mark of the Norwegian season. They’ll need that form to carry over, as they open the League phase with a visit to Bayern Munich before hosting Dortmund in Matchday 2. The remainder of the fixture list is much kinder to Bodø, a needed reprieve with their domestic season concluding early December.

Elsewhere: Conte’s Napoli reverted to his European form last year, finishing 30th and missing out on the knockout rounds; will they improve under Allegri this time round? Villareal also missed out last year, mustering just a sole point in the League phase; they have opened their winless La Liga campaign meekly, including a draw and a loss against newly-promoted sides.

Pot IV – The Debutant Ball

AEK Athens, Como, LASK, Lens, Sabah FK, Slavia Prague, Slovan Bratislava, Stuttgart, Viking

Matchday 1 will mark maiden Champions League, league-phase-debuts for Como, LASK, Sabah, and Viking. While all will bring their share of intrigue, the most scrutiny will be on Cesc Fabregas’ Como, who pipped Juventus and AC Milan on the final day of the Serie A season to take the final Italian qualification place. Fabregas has been backed by the club this summer, as the club shelled out €60m to Madrid to retain midfield dynamo Nico Paz & spent €18m to partner him with midfield starlet Martin Baturina (Dinamo Zagreb). Fabregas also raided his old club, Chelsea, with GK Robert Sanchez (loan) and Trevoh Chalobah coming to bolster the defense alongside Yan Cuoto (Dortmund, loan). They’ll look to build on a strong start in Serie A (2 wins and a draw from 3) with manageable opening matches against Leipzig and Feyenoord. They close the campaign with PSG (H) before Fabregas, who spent 9 years between La Masia and the Barca first team, makes his coaching debut at the Camp Nou. 

Elsewhere: There’s another big name, ex-Barca player, in the coach’s dugout, as Yaya Touré took the helm at Bratislava this summer and has guided the Slovakian champs through the qualification rounds. 

League Phase Predictions

Ollie: Have I potentially ruled the defending champions out of a famous 3-peat with these predictions? Shockingly PSG managed to win both their titles in the new Champions League format with 15^th placed group staged finishes – playing their way through the apparent handicap of the playoff round in both editions.

I’m all in on Real Betis as a surprise package  – possibly the result of some recency bias here –  but expect the experience of  Marc Barta, Giovani Lo Celso and Antony to provide the potential for some upsets this season.

All eyes on Sabah FK, the competition debutants who were only formed in 2017 and whose coach won Lithuania’s version of ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire?’, paving the way for the subsequent funding of his coaching badges – he seems to have put those to good use!

I do have Villa taking the plunge from pot II and out of knockout contention this year. The outgoings this off-season will see the Villians struggle in Europe.

Top Eight: Arsenal, Atlético Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, PSG, Porto, Real Betis

Bottom Twelve: Aston Villa, Bodø/Glimt, Como, Feyenoord, AEK Athens, Shakhtar Donetsk, LASK, Lens, Sabah FK, Slavia Prague, Slovan Bratislava, Viking

Josh: Not many surprises for me this season. PSG have a tired squad, as many of their players went deep at the World Cup – on the heels of the Club World Cup in 2025 –  and face a tough draw. Manchester City have looked shaky to start the season and will need time to find their feet under Enzo Maresca. I think a strong Porto side will take down City in the opening matchday and power on to a top 8 finish. Fenerbahce are my other surprise top 8 team – their summer signings have a load of top-level experience, and they have a gentle away schedule (Villa, Shakhtar in London, LASK, and Atletico Madrid).

I’m buying again on Bodø, and while their mighty name inspires confidence, I’m not sure their compatriot Viking can break through in their first UCL campaign. Club Brugge had some key departures this summer, with key playmaker Christos Tzolis moving to Arsenal, and I expect them to struggle without reinforcements.  

Top Eight: Arsenal, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Fenerbahce, Inter, Liverpool, Porto, Real Madrid

Bottom Twelve: AEK Athens, Club Brugge, Feyenoord, LASK, Roma, Sabah FK, Shakhtar Donetsk, Slavia Praha, Slovan Bratislava, Stuttgart, Viking, Villarreal

Matchday 1 Predictions

Josh: Inter Milan at Real Madrid (Tuesday, 21:00 CET)

Madrid’s Champions League campaign kicks off with consecutive “Mourinho Bowls” as Inter Milan visit the Bernabeu for the first time since 2021. Interestingly, Mourinho has a fairly poor record when coming up against his former sides; his Roma side lost 6 of 7 matchups with the Nerazzurri between 2021 and 2024. Madrid is a far more formidable side than Roma, however, and despite a hiccup against Betis on the weekend, have started well. Inter are unbeaten to start the Serie A campaign, but Mbappé, Bellingham, Vinicius Jr & co should be too strong for Milan.

Inter Milan 0 – 2 Real Madrid

Ollie: Sabah FK at Manchester United (Thursday, 21:00 CET)

This might not be the heavyweight contest of the round, but there certainly won’t be any less intrigue when two of the most contrasting sides in the competition meet. Sabah came through four qualifying rounds to book their place as debutants in the Champions League proper, their prize being an opening day matchup with 3-time winners Manchester United at the ‘Theatre of Dreams’. Michael Carrick takes charge of his first Champions League campaign as United boss; a coach who boasts plenty of playing experience in the competition. Expect this one to be a high scoring encounter – I’ve gone for a fairytale first goal for the Azeri visitors in this one.

Sabah FK 1 – 4 Manchester United

Full Matchday 1 Predictions