Learn more about City’s 2025/26 Champions League opponents | OneFootball

Find out more about the sides we will play in this year’s Champions League league phase…

We discovered our eight opponents in the first phase of the competition in a draw in Nyon on Thursday.

2025/26 marks the second year of the new format which sees all 36 teams placed in one league table, with every side playing eight times across clubs spread across the four pots.

Here we’ll find out a little more about each of the teams that we’ll face…

Please note, this is the order in which the sides were drawn and not that in which we will play the fixtures.

Fixture dates and times will be confirmed on Saturday.

Pot 1: Borussia Dortmund (Home)

Country: Germany

How they qualified: Fourth-place finish in the 2024/25 Bundesliga.

Champions League history: Dortmund famously lifted the trophy in 1997 and have since returned to the final on two occasions – in 2012 and 2024. In total, they’ve played 197 games in the Champions League/European Cup, winning 96 of them.

Manager: Niko Kovac is the current man in charge at the Westfalenstadion. A former defensive midfielder who enjoyed a long playing career with Croatia and throughout German football, he previously led Bayern Munich, Monaco and Eintracht Frankfurt.

Head-to-head: We have played each other six times in the Champions League, with City winning three times and Dortmund winning once.

Last time we met: We last played Dortmund in the group stage in 2022/23, with 0-0 draw in Germany following a dramatic 2-1 win at the Etihad that included an iconic Erling Haaland finish.

WATCH: City 2-1 Dortmund: Brief Highlights

Pot 1: Real Madrid (Away)

Country: Spain

How they qualified: Second-place finish in the 2024/25 La Liga.

Champions League history: No Club has won the competition more times, winning the inaugural season of the competition in 1955/56 and the next four editions. The last of their 15 successes came in 2023/24 when they beat Borussia Dortmund 2-0 at Wembley.

Manager: Former Real midfielder Xabi Alonso returned to the Santiago Bernabeu in the summer  taking over from Carlo Ancelotti who won the trophy three times with the Spanish Club. Alonso emerged as one of the most exciting coaches in Europe after leading Bayer Leverkusen to their first Bundesliga title ever, remaining unbeaten on the way, as well as winning the German Cup.

Head to head: We have become regular opponents meeting on 14 occasions. City have won four with Real winning five times.

Last time we met: The two teams met in the play-off knockout stages of last season’s Champions League. After two late goals at the Etihad saw them win 3-2, a Kylian Mbappe hat-trick saw Real triumph 3-1, with Nico scoring his first goal for the Blues.

WATCH: Champions League highlights: Real Madrid 3-1 City

Pot 2: Bayer Leverkusen (Home)

Country: Germany

How they qualified: Runners-up in the 2024/25 Bundesliga.

Champions League history: Leverkusen’s greatest Champions League campaign came in 2001/02 when they reached the final before losing to Real Madrid. Since then, they have played in the tournament 10 times without getting past the Round of 16.

Manager: Former Manchester United manager Erik Ten Hag has replaced the hugely popular Xabi Alonso in the summer. Ten Hag’s greatest European credentials come from taking Ajax to the semi-finals in 2018/19.

Head-to-head record: City and Bayer Leverkusen have never met in the Champions League!

WATCH: City's dramatic journey to becoming European champions

Pot 2: Villarreal (AWAY)

Country: Spain

How they qualified: Fifth-place finish in the 2024/25 La Liga.

Champions League history: The Yellow Submarine, as they are affectionately known, have only qualified for the Champions League four times but have a remarkable history in the tournament. They reached the semi-finals at their first attempt in 2005/06 and then the last-eight three years later. They last played in the competition in 2021/22 and reached the semi-finals where they were knocked out by Liverpool.

Manager: Marcelino Garcia Toral, known simply by his first name, has more top-flight wins with Villarreal than anyone in the Club’s history. The 60-year-old masterminded a run to the Europa League semi-finals in 2015/16 and is now in his second spell after also coaching at Valencia, Athletic Bilbao and Marseille in recent years.

Head to head: Our only two previous matches were in the 2011/2012 with Roberto Mancini's side winning home and away.

Last time we met: Our last visit to El Madrigal was in November 2011 in our first season in the competition since it was remained the Champions League. Yaya Toure scored twice either side of a Mario Balotelli penalty to secure a 3-0 victory, although we eventually finished third in the group stage behind Bayern Munich and Napoli.

Pot 3: Napoli (Home)

Country: Italy

How they qualified: Champions of 2024/25 Serie A.

Champions League history: Napoli have previously played in the Champions League on eight occasions, with their 2022/23 run to the quarter-finals their best performance to date.

Manager: Former Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur boss Antonio Conte is in charge at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium. The Italian is highly revered as one of the leading managers in the game.

Head-to-head record: City have won two of the four meetings, with Napoli winning one. The draw in 2011/12 was actually City’s first ever match in the Champions League.

Last time we met: We won 4-2 in the south of Italy in the 2017/18 group stage, with goals from Nicolas Otamendi, John Stones, Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling.

WATCH: Napoli 2-4 City 2017/18: Classic highlights

Pot 3: BODO/GLIMT (AWAY)

Country: Norway

How they qualified: Champions of the 2024 Eliteserien before beating Austrian champions Sturm Graz 6-2 on aggregate in a qualification play-off.

Champions League history: Despite their domestic success, this will be the first time that Bodo/Glimt will take part in the Champions League after previously losing play-off matches to Legia Warsaw, Dinamo Zagreb and Red Star Belgrade. They did, however, reach the semi-finals of last season's Europa League, losing out to eventual winners Tottenham.

Manager: Now 56, Kjetil Knudsen has been linked with moves to Premier League clubs on several occasions but is now entering his eighth season at the Club. Becoming the first manager to lead a Norwegian Club to European semi-final, he has come a long way since managing a youth team in the fifth tier.

Head to head: This will be the first time the two clubs have met and indeed this will be the first time we have officially faced a Norwegian side.

Pot 4: Galatasaray (Home)

Country: Turkey

How they qualified: Champions of the 2024/25 Turkish Super Lig

Champions League history: This is Galatasaray’s 18th attempt at the Champions League, having previously progressed through the group stage on three occasions.

Manager: Long-serving Galatasaray and Turkey midfielder Okan Burak has been boss at the giants since 2022. His playing career spanned 1991 to 2010 before taking charge of several of his homeland’s biggest sides.

Head-to-head record: City and Galatasaray have never previously met in the Champions League! They are, of course, from Istanbul - a city which holds special memories for City fans after our 2023 final triumph.

WATCH: City 1-0 Inter: Official short film

POT 4: MONACO (AWAY)

Country: France (Monaco is its own principality, with the team competing in French football)

How they qualified: Third-place finish in 2024/25 Ligue 1

Champions League history: Monaco have competed in the Champions League on 11 occasions. Their best performance came in reaching the 2003/04 final, before losing to Porto. They have also appeared in the semi-finals a further three times.

Manager: Adi Hutter has been in charge of Monaco since the summer of 2023 after a successful spell in German football with Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Monchengladbach. The Austrian was also a player, starring as a midfielder for Austria Salzburg between 1993 and 2000 most notably.

Head to head: Our only two meeting were in 2017 with a home win each and five goals each. However, Monaco did knock us out on the away goal's rule.

Last time we met: Following the now iconic 5-3 victory for City at the Etihad that saw the likes of Mbappe and Bernardo Silva announce themselves, we went to the principality and suffered a 3-1 defeat owing to goals from Mbappe, Fabinho and Tiemoue Bakayoko.

WATCH: Monaco 3-1 (6-6) City: Highlights