Villarreal, with the Canadian trio of Nathan Saliba, Tajon Buchanan and Tani Oluwaseyi, and Alphonso Davies’ Bayern Munich discovered their slate of matches for this season’s Champions League on Thursday.
The two teams were among the 36 in the draw with play set to kick off in the league phase on Sept. 8. Each team plays eight matches with the phase concluding on Jan. 27, 2027. This season’s tournament is the third under the revised format. Paris Saint-Germain have won the past two competitions.
With the 36 clubs divided into four pots, the Yellow Submarine were in Pot 3. Each team was drawn with two teams in each pot for home and away matches. Teams cannot come up against clubs from their own nation and cannot play more than two teams from a single nation.
Villarreal will welcome to El Madrigal the defending champions PSG, Manchester United, Napoli and Azerbaijani champions Sabah. They will travel for matches at Liverpool, Borussia Dortmund, Fenerbahce and Slavia Prague. Now managed by Inigo Perez, Villarreal claimed just a single point in last season’s competition, losing seven of their eight matches.
Six-time champions Bayern are set for a pair of heavyweight clashes with English opposition. Vincent Kompany’s side will welcome last season’s finalists, Arsenal, to the Allianz Arena and travel to Old Trafford to take on United in a rematch of the epic 1999 Champions League Final. Also on the cards for the 35-time German champions are home dates with Real Betis, Bodo/Glimt and Slavia Prague. They will travel to matches with Atletico, Lille and Norwegian side Viking, who make their return to the competition for the first time since 1993.
The 2027 Champions League Final is set for June 5 at the Madrid’s Metropolitano, the home of Atleti.
