Real Madrid's Champions League Opponents, Key Dates, And Kickoff Times Announced

Real Madrid's opponents will be Manchester City (home), Liverpool, Juventus (home), Benfica, Marseille (home), Olympiacos, Monaco (home), and Kairat.

The official dates for the matches will be announced by UEFA and will be published on Saturday. Matchday 1 arrives between September 16 and 18. Matchday 2 on September 30 or October 1. Matchday 3 around October 21 or 22. Matchday 4 returns on November 4 or 5, while Matchday 5 will be around the days of November 25-26.

As for the last three, they arise on the days of December 9 and 10, January 20 and 21, and January 28, 2026. These are the dates stipulated by the draw for a second edition under the league format.

The maximum entity of European football has made it clear that one home game and one away game will always be played against the opponents from each pot.

UCL Kickoff Times

The matches will always be played on Tuesday or Wednesday, except for the first matchday, which could be Thursday. Possible kickoff times? 18:45 and 21:00 (Spain time), 09:45 and 12:00 (PT), and 12:45 and 15:00 (ET).

This covers the first phase of the tournament, where each team will have to play 8 official matches to seek a place among the best 24 participants of the regular phase. After this, a first round of direct elimination will arrive, where spots between 16 and 24 will have a playoff.

When Will Real Madrid Play the Knockout Stages?

The playoff phase will take place February 17-18 and 24-25, 2026. The round of 16 on March 10-11 and 17-18, 2026. And the quarterfinals are April 7-8 and 14-15, 2026.

The semifinals will take place April 28-29 and May 5-6, and the final will be on Saturday, May 30, 2026, where the entire European landscape will set its eyes on the capital of Hungary for the 71st final in the history of the Champions League.

Also announced is that for the first time in its history, the Champions League final will be played starting at 18:00 (European time) on a Saturday. Throughout the last decade, UEFA had opted for a 21:00 kickoff time meant to commercialize the event in the best way possible in the United States.

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