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Arsenal face a demanding campaign in the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League after being handed a challenging set of fixtures in Thursday’s draw at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.
The Gunners, seeded in Pot 2, will compete under the new 36-team Swiss-system format against Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid, Club Brugge, Olympiacos, Slavia Prague, Kairat Almaty, and Athletic Bilbao.
Among the standout ties, Mikel Arteta’s side will host Bayern Munich at the Emirates Stadium and travel to face Inter Milan at San Siro, clashes that could prove decisive in their bid to finish inside the top eight and secure direct passage to the round of 16.
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Arsenal will also host Atletico Madrid and Olympiacos, while travelling to Belgium to meet Club Brugge and to Prague to face Slavia. From Pot 4, they will face Athletic Bilbao away and Champions League debutants Kairat Almaty at home, the Kazakh side making history as the first club from the country to feature in the competition’s league phase.
🚨BREAKING: Arsenal will face the following teams in the league phase of the new UEFA Champions League for the 2025/26 season.
🇩🇪 Bayern Munich (h)
🇮🇹 Inter Milan (a)
🇪🇸 Atletico Madrid (h)
🇧🇪 Club Brugge (a)
🇬🇷 Olympiacos (h)
🇨🇿 Slavia Prague (a)
🇰🇿 Kairat Almaty (h)
🇪🇸… pic.twitter.com/XXzvbclKmL
— now.arsenal (@now_arsenaI) August 28, 2025
Former Arsenal forward Theo Walcott, who represented the club at the draw in Monaco, expressed his excitement about the campaign.
“I’m really excited. I would always be watching the Champions League draw on TV when I was very young, so to actually be part of the day representing Arsenal is an absolute honour,” Walcott said. “It was a really interesting draw for everyone, but Arsenal’s particularly, which I’m really fond of. So, I am really looking forward to this season.”
Highlighting key fixtures, Walcott pointed to Bayern Munich’s visit to north London, noting the added intrigue of former Tottenham striker Harry Kane’s return to England.
“All the games are exciting, but Bayern Munich stands out for me because of Harry Kane coming back to play at the Emirates, which will be very hostile for him,” he said. “Olympiacos is also a tough place to go, I’ve played there myself, and every match will be a test.
Arsenal defender Gabriel & Harry Kane
Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane and Arsenal’s Gabriel Magalhaes (Image credit: Getty Images)
“Arsenal will want to go further than they have in previous years, a quarter-final two years ago, a semi-final after that. With the squad depth they now have, I feel like this year they’re better equipped.”
When asked about Arsenal’s ambitions, Walcott pointed to the progress made under Mikel Arteta and the club’s ambitious recruitment.
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“The ambition is always to be successful, whether in training or matches. They want to push further in the Premier League and be more competitive in Europe,” he said. “The board, Josh Kroenke, the ownership, and now Andrea Berta have done incredibly well, and with the signing of Viktor Gyokeres, the missing piece of the puzzle, I think Arsenal finally have the striker they’ve needed. In this competition, especially, he could be decisive.”
On the risk of an early exit in the league phase, Walcott was confident. “Arsenal will win all their games before that, so I have no problem at all,” he insisted.
“I just feel like they are well equipped to be in a good place, they have so many players to pick from and they can really express themselves. I would be really pleased with Arsenal’s group, looking at it, they obviously have to travel as far as well, so it’s a bonus going into the domestic side of things. Look, I think it’s been a good night, but they want to be in the final on the 30th, so I’ll obviously want to pencil that down in my diary when it comes to it.”
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