Slavia learns Champions League opponents: Arsenal, Bayern and Aston Villa in the draw

Prague's Slavia now knows its opponents in the league phase of the 2025/26 Champions League. The draw, held in Monaco, pitted the Czechs against last season's finalists Arsenal of London, reigning Europa League champions Aston Villa, as well as Villarreal and France's Lens. Away from home, Indřich Trpišovský's side will face Bayern Munich, Fenerbahçe of Istanbul, Porto of Portugal, and tournament newcomers Sabah of Azerbaijan.

Slavia already met Arsenal last season, losing 0:3 at home — the Gunners went on to reach the final, where they lost to defending champions Paris Saint-Germain on penalties. The Czechs have also crossed paths with Aston Villa before, losing 0:1 at home back in November 2008. Meeting Bayern and Sabah, however, will be a first for Slavia.

How the new tournament format works

For the third year running, the Champions League follows its revamped format: all 36 teams in the league phase are ranked in a single combined table. The top 24 advance to the knockout stage, with the top eight going straight into the round of 16, bypassing the play-off round. Each club will play eight matches against different opponents — four at home and four away.

The league phase kicks off on Tuesday, 8 September, and wraps up with matchday eight on 27 January next year. UEFA will release the detailed fixture schedule at a later date. The final will be held on 5 June in Madrid, with Paris Saint-Germain currently holding the trophy.

What the club is saying

According to Slavia midfielder Michal Sadílek, the opponents drawn are so strong that there's little point picking favourites. "From the top seeding pot we drew the champions of arguably the two strongest leagues in the world — England and Germany. There are also some intriguing pairings: Porto away, Villarreal at home. After last season, we should be more experienced — we already know what to expect," he said.

Going into the draw, Slavia was rated the strongest team in the weakest of the four seeding pots, which meant that from the elite top nine clubs it drew the last two names left — Arsenal and Bayern. Slavia previously faced Arsenal in the Europa League quarter-finals of the 2020/21 season, and back in 2007, during their league-phase debut in the Champions League, they suffered the heaviest European defeat in the club's history against the Londoners — 0:7.

Slavia met Lens back in the 1995/96 season on their way to a historic UEFA Cup semi-final, and faced Villarreal in 2017 (a 2:2 away draw followed by a 0:2 home defeat). The Czechs have already met Fenerbahçe three times, including a qualifying-round win in the 2021/22 Conference League and a 1:2 defeat in the Europa League two years earlier. The trip to Baku to face Sabah will be the longest journey Slavia makes all season.

This marks Slavia's fourth appearance in the Champions League league phase. Last time out, the club failed to win a single match, picking up three draws and five defeats to finish 34th overall. Since their debut in autumn 2007, the team has gone 19 consecutive league-phase matches without a win. This is the third year in a row that Czech football has been represented in the Champions League league phase — a year earlier, Prague's Sparta also failed to reach the play-offs, going out in the third qualifying round to Lyon.

Source: seznamzpravy.cz