We use the Opta Power Rankings to assess the difficulty of each team’s Champions League fixtures in the 2026-27 league phase.
Following the draw for the league phase of the 2026-27 Champions League, 144 fixtures have been generated to be played over eight matchdays in the coming months.
Each side now knows the identity of their eight opponents, but given that no two teams have the same set of opponents, this isn’t a level playing field in the same way that a ‘normal’ league would be.
With that in mind, it’s reasonable to wonder who has been given the kindest draw and who has been handed the toughest assignment? It just so happens we can assess this both objectively and precisely.
We have used the Opta Power Rankings, which rank 16,000 teams from across the world on the same scale, to find an objective rating for each team’s eight Champions League fixtures for 2026-27. Using the average rating of every team’s opponents, we can give a difficulty rating to each club’s fixture list. The higher the average rating, the more difficult the schedule.
Last season, Arsenal finished top of the league phase after being given one of the easiest sets of opponents, while Bayern Munich finished second having been handed the toughest fixture list of all 36 sides. It appears fixture difficulty was not much of a factor for those two teams.
But not every team is as strong as those two (who are currently the best two sides in the world according to the Opta Power Rankings), and fixture difficulty will be a significant factor for others.
Which Teams Have the Easiest Champions League Fixtures?
In terms of Premier League clubs, it’s Liverpool who have received the easiest draw. Their opponents have an average Opta Power Rating of 90.0, making theirs the ninth-kindest fixture list overall.
As we detailed earlier this week, Atlético Madrid and Inter Milan were the two kindest Pot 1 opponents Premier League teams could have drawn with, based on the Opta Power Rankings, and Liverpool drew them both. They’ve avoided having to play any true European behemoth.
Arsenal also received a relatively favourable draw, albeit for very different reasons. Their Pot 1 fixtures against Bayern Munich (A) and Real Madrid (H) are about as difficult as they come, while they also drew Borussia Dortmund (H), the highest-ranked team in Pot 2.
Beyond those fixtures, however, there should be little for Mikel Arteta’s side to fear. Of the possible Pot 4 opponents, Arsenal drew the two lowest-ranked sides in Sabah and Slovan Bratislava.
So, while the top end of their draw is tough, the bottom end is kind. At the time of writing, Sabah, 170th in the world, and Slovan Bratislava, 224th, are comfortably the two lowest-ranked teams to have qualified for this season’s Champions League.
Outside the Premier League, Stuttgart received the easiest draw of any team, with their opponents having an average Opta Power Rating of 88.9.
Among the Pot 1 sides, Internazionale came out of the draw particularly well, receiving the second-easiest set of league-phase fixtures of any team, with an average opponent rating of 89.5.
Having finished as UCL runners-up in 2024-25, Inter suffered a surprise exit at the hands of Bodø/Glimt in last season’s knockout play-offs. Given the fixtures they have been handed this time around, they will be hoping to avoid that stage altogether and qualify directly for the last 16.
Which Teams Have the Toughest Champions League Fixtures?
Manchester City will begin a Champions League campaign without Pep Guardiola for the first time in 11 years, and his replacement, Enzo Maresca, has been handed the most difficult fixture list of any Premier League club.
City’s opponents have an average Opta Power Rating of 91.7, with only five teams receiving a tougher draw overall. They have drawn two European giants from Pot 1 in Barcelona and PSG, while Napoli, ranked 34th in the world, are a particularly difficult Pot 3 assignment.
Aston Villa were also drawn against Barcelona and PSG from Pot 1, although they have fond memories of their previous meeting with the French champions at Villa Park. PSG ultimately knocked Villa out in 2024-25, but only just. Villa won the second leg of their quarter-finals 3-2 at home, falling just short over the tie as they lost 5-4 on aggregate.
Villa’s squad has changed significantly since then, however, and they were also given statistically the toughest possible pair of opponents from Pot 2 in Club Brugge and Borussia Dortmund.
Their Pot 3 and Pot 4 opponents are more forgiving, but Unai Emery will once again need to work his European magic if a squad that has undergone significant churn this summer is to make another deep run in the competition.
Manchester United are back in the Champions League for the first time since 2023-24. Their previous campaign did not go particularly well, with United finishing fourth in their group. And while this season’s draw is far from disastrous, it is definitely on the more difficult side.
They host Bayern Munich, the toughest possible Pot 1 opponent, while Como represent another awkward draw as the most difficult possible opponent from Pot 4.
Fixtures against Sporting CP, ranked 21st in the world, and Roma, 22nd, should also be highly competitive. Meanwhile, United drew RB Leipzig (38th) and Villarreal (43rd) from Pot 3. Those were not the worst possible outcomes, but there were certainly plenty of more favourable draws available.
Because teams cannot play themselves, it is perhaps no surprise to see Sabah and Slavia Prague emerge with the hardest and third-hardest fixture lists, respectively.
Beyond those two, Ligue 1 club Lens received a particularly difficult draw, with their opponents’ average Opta Power Rating at 92.1. Diego Simeone’s Atlético Madrid were not far behind on 92.0.
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Champions League 2026-27 Fixture Difficulty: Who Has the Easiest and Toughest League Phase Games? Opta Analyst.
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