Champions League draw: Atlético Madrid face nightmare away days

Thursday afternoon saw the 2025/26 season’s UEFA Champions League draw take place in Monaco, where Atlético Madrid discovered their eight opponents in the league phase of the tournament.

On the surface, it is somewhat of a nightmare draw. Six of the eight teams are the current domestic champions in their respective countries.

Situated in pot two, Atleti drew two teams from each of the four pots, coming across some familiar European foes as well as some new faces too. Here’s how it all went down.

a complicated to understand process, it was Inter Milan’s computer-generated draw that revealed the rojiblanco badge for the first time this evening. The match will be played at the Estadio Metropolitano, the location the last time the two clubs faced each other back in the 2023/24 round of 16. That night, Atleti prevailed in a remarkable comeback which saw them knock out the nerazzurri on penalties to reach the quarter-finals.

The second team Atlético will play from pot one is Liverpool, a familiar continental opponent for Diego Simeone’s side. There have been eight fixtures across all European competitions between the two, the most memorable being the Marcos Llorente night at Anfield just days before the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. The boys in red and white will have to hope the spirit of that night, plus the UEFA Europa League semifinal of the 2009/10 season, is with them as they make another trip to the historic stadium on Merseyside for this campaign’s league phase.

In pot two, Atleti will face another tricky trip to England, this time heading to North London to play Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal. The only time these two clubs have met also brings positive memories for colchoneros; the 2017/18 UEFA Europa League semi-finals saw an Antoine Griezmann-inspired Atleti resolutely progress to that year’s final after a stubborn 1-1 draw at the Emirates Stadium and a 1-0 home win the following week.

The other team drawn out from pot two was Eintracht Frankfurt, a team Atlético haven’t come across since 1975. On that occasion, in the old Cup Winner’s Cup tournament, it was the Germans who took the win in both matches, so El Cholo will be hoping to get on the scoreboard in that particular head-to-head with a home fixture at the Metropolitano.

In pot three, Atleti avoided a trip up to the Arctic Circle by drawing Bodø/Glimt at home. The reigning Norwegian champions will be brand-new opponents for club, the two sides never coming across each other before. It won’t be as easy as some might imagine: not too long ago, Bodø managed a 6-1 scalp of José Mourinho’s Roma, and they reached the Europa League semi-finals last season.

A more-familiar name was the away fixture generated from pot three: Dutch club PSV Eindhoven. All six of the fixtures between the two sides have taken place since 2008, and Atleti remain undefeated. The only two draws were back-to-back 0-0 stalemates in the 2015/16 last 16, which produced a fascinating penalty shootout that saw Atlético come through 8-7 on the way to that year’s final.

The last two teams, generated from pot four, were Champions League new boys Royale Union Saint-Gilloise of Belgium (at home) and Turkish giants Galatasaray (away in Istanbul). As one might imagine, it will be the first meeting with the Belgians, whereas there is some history between Atlético and Galatasaray. The two played in the first round of what was a straight knock-out tournament in the 1973/74 European Cup — the campaign that the rojiblancos made the final for the first time. Atleti beat Gala twice in the group stage of the 2015/16 tournament as well.

The exact dates and times will be released later in the week, but matches will be played between September and January.