The draw for the 2025/26 Champions League has been made, and we’ve got plenty of tasty fixtures to look forward to across the next five months when we’re in continental action.
We’ve been pitted against a number of familiar faces as well as a trio of new clubs in a nice mix of matches for all Gooners to get excited about.
Here is a guide to all eight of our opponents:
BAYERN MUNICH
How they qualified: German champions
Best European Cup performance: 6x winners (1974, 1975, 1976, 2001, 2013, 2020)
Last season: Champions League quarter-finals
Last season saw Bayern wrap up a record-extending 33rd Bundesliga title, which they won at a canter, finishing 13 points ahead of Bayer Leverkusen in Vincent Kompany’s first season in charge. That was their only silverware of the campaign, and after finishing 12th in the league phase, they were eliminated in the last eight of the Champions League by Inter Milan 4-2 on aggregate.
Head-to-head: P14 W3 D3 L8
We’ll be taking on a familiar foe in Bayern, as we look to exact revenge on the Bavarian side for our exit at the quarter-finals back in 2023/24. That was one of five occasions that they’ve knocked us out of the competition, with our last win against them coming in 2015.
INTER MILAN
How they qualified: Runners-up in Italy
Best European Cup performance: 3x winners (1964, 1965, 2010)
Last season: Champions League runners-up
It was a season of so near, yet so far for Inter last term, as they pushed Napoli all the way in Serie A but ultimately finished a point behind them as they searched for back-to-back Scudettos. They then finished just behind us in fourth place in the league phase, and after an epic semi-final win over Barcelona, they suffered the biggest defeat in Champions League final history to Paris Saint-Germain, going down 5-0 in Munich.
Head-to-head: P3 W1 D0 L2
Just as we did last year, we head to the San Siro for a league phase game, with our 1-0 loss there our only reverse at that stage. It was also the site for one of our greatest European nights, when we won 5-1 during the 2003/04 group stage. We avenged a 3-0 loss at Highbury thanks to a Thierry Henry double, plus strikes from Freddie Ljungberg, Edu and Robert Pires.
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Quiz: The line-ups from our three San Siro wins
ATLETICO MADRID
How they qualified: Third in Spain
Best European Cup performance: 3x runners-up (1974, 2014, 2016)
Last season: Champions League R16
Diego Simeone’s side couldn’t break the El Clasico dominance in La Liga last term a they finished in the bronze medal position, and exited both domestic cup competitions at the hands of the duo. A fifth-place finish in the league phase pitted them against their city rivals Real in the last-16, where a controversial penalty shootout defeat ended their hopes of getting their hands on the trophy for the first time.
Head-to-head: P2 W0 D1 L1
Our only previous meeting with Atleti came in 2018 when they knocked us out of the Europa League semi-finals by virtue of a 1-0 win at the Metropolitano thanks to a Diego Costa goal, after the sides had drawn 1-1 in north London in the first leg.
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CLUB BRUGGE
How they qualified: Champions League play-offs
Best European Cup performance: Runners-up (1978)
Last season: Champions League R16
Brugge finished second in Belgium last term, behind Union Saint-Gilloise, but did claim the Belgian Cup by beating Anderlecht. They entered the Champions League qualifiers and beat Red Bull Salzburg before demolishing Rangers 9-1 on aggregate to book their spot in the league phase, where they finished 24th last term, beating Atalanta in the play-off round but lost to Aston Villa in the round of 16.
Head-to-head: No previous fixtures
Read more
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OLYMPIAcOS
How they qualified: Greek champions
Best European Cup performance: Quarter-finals (1999)
Last season: Europa League R16
Olympiacos return to the Champions League for the first time since the 2020/21 campaign, having won the Greek league for the 48th time in their history in what was their centenary season. They lost just three games all campaign to clinch a first league title in three years, and rounded off the campaign by completing a domestic double. Their best performance came back in 1999 when they reached the quarter-finals, losing to Juventus 3-2 on aggregate.
Head-to-head: P12 W6 D0 L6
We’ve played Olympiacos 12 times across two European competitions. Our first head-to-head came in the Champions League group stages in 2009/10, defeating the Greek side 2-0 at home before losing 2-0 away. A stunning Olivier Giroud hat-trick in Greece saw us win 3-0 in 2015 to secure progression to the round of 16. Our most recent clash came in the Europa League round of 16 when Martin Odegaard’s first goal in red helped us eliminate the side 3-2 on aggregate.
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Quiz: Every team we’ve met in the Champions League
SLAVIA PRAGUE
How they qualified: Czech champions
Best European Cup performance: Group stages (2008, 2020)
Last season: Champions League league phase
Slavia Prague are back in the Champions League courtesy of an eighth Czech First League title, finishing 16 points clear of second-place Viktoria Plzen. It’s been five years since Slavia entered the Champions League group stages in 2020, taking credible draws away to Inter Milan and Barcelona. However last season saw them finish 30th in the Europa League league phase, winning one of eight matches.
Head-to-head: P4 W2 D2 L0
We have faced Slavia Prague on four occasions, twice in the Champions League and twice in the Europa League. In 2007/08, we hit the Czech team for seven in a thumping 7-0 victory at Emirates Stadium as Theo Walcott bagged his first Champions League goals. Fast forward to 2021 and we faced the same opponents in the Europa League quarter-finals. After a 1-1 stalemate in N5, we turned on the style in the Czech capital, netting four times without reply to reach the final four.
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ATHLETIC CLUB
How they qualified: Fourth in Spain
Best European Cup performance: Quarter-finals (1957)
Last season: Europa League semi-finals
Historic club Athletic Club are back in the Champions League after an 11-year hiatus. The Basque side, managed by Ernesto Valverde, picked up 70 points in the league last season, enough to finish fourth in La Liga, while they were dumped out of the Europa League by Manchester United at the semi-final stage. Their best run in Europe’s premier competition came when in the European Cup, reaching the quarter-finals in 1957.
Head-to-head: No previous fixtures
We have never met Athletic Club in competitive action, with our first-ever game against the side coming just a few weeks ago as Viktor Gyokeres netted his first goal for us in a 3-0 victory to clinch the Emirates Cup.
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KAIRAT ALMATY
How they qualified: Champions League play-offs
Best European Cup performance: Debut season
Last season: Did not play European football
Head-to-head: No previous fixtures
Kairat Almaty produced a stunning run to reach the Champions League for the first time in their history, knocking out Olimpija Ljubljana of Slovenia, Finnish champions KuPS, Slovan Bratislava of Slovakia and Celtic on penalties on a special night in the city. Kairat are the second side from Kazakhstan to reach the Champions League group stage after Astana did the same in 2015/16. They pipped that club to win their fourth league title by a point last term.
Head-to-head: No previous fixtures
We have yet to face Kairat in competitive action. Only Astana have faced English opposition in European competition, facing Chelsea in the 2024/25 Europa Conference League and Manchester United in the Europa League in 2019/20.
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