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Real Madrid News Official: Real Madrid’s eight opponents for the league phase of the 2026/27 Champions League After a couple rather underwhelming campaigns compared to their lofty standards, Real Madrid will be hoping to fare better in the 2026/27 UEFA Champions League. Los Blancos, who finished outside the top-eight in the newly-introduced league phase last term, had to go through playoffs to make it to the knockout rounds before eventually being eliminated by Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals. Now, ahead of the kickoff of the new season of the Champions League in September, Real Madrid have learnt their eight opponents for the league phase. For the draw, the 36 participating teams were split into four pots based on their individual coefficient ranking, with the last season’s Champions League winner, PSG, being the top seed in Pot 1. No teams from the same association can be drawn against each other and no team can face more than two opponents from the same association. In addition, new UEFA regulations state that a team cannot play the same individual league phase fixture for three seasons in a row. This rules out the possibility of a third straight meeting between Real Madrid and Liverpool at Anfield Who are Real Madrid facing? Real Madrid were placed in Pot 1, along with PSG, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Manchester City, Arsenal, Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid From this pot, Jose Mourinho’s men have drawn and Inter Milan (H) and Arsenal (A). Meanwhile, from Pot 2, which contained Aston Villa, Manchester United, Borussia Dortmund, AS Roma, Sporting CP, FC Porto, Club Brugge, PSV Eindhoven, and Real Betis, the Merengues will be facing PSV (H) and AS Roma (A) Pot 3 had Feyenoord, Lille, Bodo/Glimt, Napoli, RB Leipzig, Villarreal, Fenerbahce, Shakhtar Donetsk, and Galatasaray. From these, Mourinho’s men will be taking on RB Leipzig (H) and Shakhtar (A). 🆚 ¡Estos son nuestros rivales en la fase liga de la @LigaDeCampeones!@adidasfootball pic.twitter.com/KX8TeP3iNb — Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) August 27, 2026 Finally, from Pot 4, which contained Slavia Praha, Slovan Bratislava, VfB Stuttgart, AEK Athens, LASK Linz, Como, Lens, Viking, and Sabah, Real Madrid will take on LASK (H) and AEK (A). The league-phase fixture list with match dates and kick-off times will be communicated on or before Saturday, 29 August. Having failed to make it past the quarter-finals in the last two seasons, Real Madrid, the record European champions, will be aiming to go all the way under new manager Mourinho this time around. Real Madrid News Mourinho identifies next major area for improvement at Real Madrid – report Real Madrid have made a perfect start to the new La Liga season, but Jose Mourinho is already demanding more from his team. The Portuguese manager is pleased with the attacking progress made during his first weeks back in charge but wants to see more defensively. According to MARCA, the defensive side of Real Madrid’s game has become one of Mourinho’s main areas of focus following the opening two league games. Mourinho displeased with defensive lapses Real Madrid have conceded once against both Espanyol and Real Sociedad, and it is not simply the number of goals that has concerned Mourinho. On both occasions, the Merengues conceded shortly after taking the lead. Mourinho views those moments as lapses in concentration. Conceding immediately after scoring is effectively handing the initiative right back to the opponents after fighting so hard to gain it in the first place. Real Sociedad managed 10 attempts at the Santiago Bernabeu, including three on target, despite eventually losing 4-1. There was a similar pattern against the Catalan side, who produced eight attempts and tested Thibaut Courtois three times. For Mourinho, reducing such lapses is of utmost priority. Defending must become a collective responsibility The Los Blancos manager wants his entire team involved defensively, starting with the forwards and extending all the way back to Courtois. Mourinho’s teams have always been built on being defensively resolute and building forward from there, and he will want this current team to get to that stage too. So far, there has been little reason for concern from an attacking perspective. Madrid produced 21 attempts against Espanyol, with eight on target, before registering another 20 against Sociedad, with 10 on target. They have scored six goals in the two matches and also struck the woodwork twice, which is very impressive for a team still adapting to a new manager. Real Madrid are far from the finished product Mourinho has made a very good start to life back in Madrid and has had a great pre-season. Madrid have also secured six points from two games, despite the manager’s desire for them to become more solid defensively. There is still significant room for improvement after only four pre-season fixtures and two competitive matches under Mourinho. Yet, with the attack already clicking, the superstar trio working in unison and Real Madrid winning games, most of the pieces of the puzzle are coming together. The next step is clear: Real Madrid need to get better defensively, and it remains to be seen how Mourinho goes about achieving that.