Arsenal Champions League Draw Confirmed
Arsenal’s Champions League League Phase opponents are set, as are everybody else’s but who really cares about them. The Gunners [something about the draw]. The club won’t be able to better last season’s League Phase — they won all eight matches with a +19 goal difference. Their first place finish guaranteed them home field in the second leg throughout the knockouts. The club that finishes second earns the same.
Sidenote: as I say every single year, writing “Champions League League Phase” makes my writer brain itch in a horrid way. Couldn’t they have come up with a better name?!
We had a “new” wrinkle to the draw this year: Arsenal could not draw away to Inter Milan nor could Liverpool draw Real Madrid at home. You’re not permitted to have the exact same fixture three seasons in a row. Of course, that’s not a new thing per se, it’s just that you could not have that rule come into effect before year three of the new format. As always, clubs could not draw other clubs from their home league.
Overall, it seems a relatively average Champions League slate. Perhaps slightly on the more difficult side only because Madrid and Bayern are two of the tougher Pot 1 opponents. The three away trips aren’t terribly far but Seville, Naples, and Prague can be tricky places to play.
The full schedule will not release until Saturday, August 29th. Matchday 1 starts on Tuesday, September 8th. The rest of the Champions League League Phase draw is here (updated when published).
Real Madrid - a reunion of the 2025 quarterfinal, where Arsenal downed Madrid 5-1 on aggregate. The Gunners beat Madrid 3-0 at the Emirates with those two stunning free kicks from Declan Rice and followed it up with a massive win at the Bernabeu. Even though Arsenal went out to PSG in the ensuing semifinal, that Madrid tie felt like a watershed moment for the club, putting everyone, everywhere on notice that they’re true European contenders.
Bayern Munich (A) - the Gunners comprehensively beat Bayern 3-1 at the Emirates in last season’s league phase, but away matches are a different thing. Arsenal have only beaten Bayern once in Munich — 2-0 in the 2nd leg of the ‘12-’13 Round of 16 when the Gunners needed three away goals to advance (so they didn’t advance). The most recent match in Munich was a 1-0 defeat in the second leg of the ‘23-’24 QFs.
Borussia Dortmund - Arsenal haven’t faced Dortmund since the 2014-15 season. The German side finished 2nd in the Bundesliga, a whopping 16 points behind Bayern Munich. They finished 17th in the League Phase and were eliminated 4-1 on aggregate by Atalanta in the intermediate stage (play-in knockout round).
Real Betis (A) - the Spanish side beat Arsenal 3-1 in Dublin in the preseason, the first ever meeting between the two clubs. Betis finished 5th in La Liga last season.
Lille - Arsenal have never faced Lille in a competitive match. The French side finished 3rd in Ligue Un last season. Familiar face Olivier Giroud currently plays for the club.
Napoli (A) - Arsenal and Napoli have faced each other four times, most recently in ‘13-‘14 with both sides winning 2-0 at home in the Group Stage. Last season, Napoli placed 2nd in Serie A, 9 points behind Inter. They finished a disappointing 30th in the League Phase last season.
Sabah - the Azerbaijani club are Champions League newcomers, and thankfully, Arsenal will not have to travel to them.
Slavia Praha (A) - Arsenal have faced the Czech side five times in Europe, notching three wins and two draws. They won the league for the second consecutive season last year.
Here are the pots from whence the draw occurred.
Pot 1: Paris Saint-Germain (FRA) Bayern Munich (GER) Real Madrid (ESP) Liverpool (ENG) Inter (ITA) Man City (ENG) Arsenal (ENG) Barcelona (ESP) Atletico Madrid (ESP)
Pot 2: Borussia Dortmund (GER) Roma (ITA) Sporting CP (POR) Aston Villa (ENG) Porto (POR) Man United (ENG) Club Brugge (BEL) Real Betis (ESP) PSV (NED)
Pot 3: Feyenoord (NED) Lille (FRA) Bodo/Glimt (NOR) Napoli (ITA) RB Leipzig (GER) Villarreal (ESP) Fenerbahçe (TUR) Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) Galatasaray (TUR)
Pot 4: Slavia Prague (CZE) Slovan Bratislava (SVK) Stuttgart (GER) AEK Athens (GRE) LASK (AUT) Como (ITA) Lens (FRA) Viking (NOR) Sabah (AZE)
The Gunners face PSG in their first Champions League final in 20 years
The Gunners host Altetico Madrid for the second leg of the Champions League semifinal
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