Nigerian players Victor Osimhen from Galatasaray, Ademola Lookman from Atletico Madrid, and Raphael Onyedika from Stuttgart are set to clash in the group stage of the 2026/27 UEFA Champions League. Their teams will compete against each other for a chance to reach the knockout stage, according to PUNCH Sports Extra.
The draw for the group stage took place in Monaco on Thursday. It revealed some exciting match-ups among Europe's top clubs.
Osimhen, Lookman, Onyedika, and Zaidu Sanusi from FC Porto are the four Nigerian players in this year's tournament. However, Sanusi's Porto will not face any of the other Nigerian players in the group stage.
Lookman’s Atletico Madrid, placed in Pot 1, will face Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Fenerbahce, and Viking. They will also play away matches against Liverpool, PSV Eindhoven, Bodo/Glimt, and Onyedika’s Stuttgart.
Porto, in Pot 2, will host Manchester City, PSV Eindhoven, Napoli, and Slavia Prague. Their away matches include Liverpool, Real Betis, Feyenoord, and LASK.
Osimhen faces a tough season with Galatasaray, who are in Pot 3. The Turkish champions will host Barcelona, Aston Villa, Feyenoord, and Stuttgart. They will travel to face Paris Saint-Germain, Sporting CP, Lille, and AEK Athens.
Osimhen will meet Onyedika when Galatasaray travels to Stuttgart. Onyedika will also play against Lookman when Atletico visits Germany. These matches will see Osimhen up against Barcelona and PSG, two clubs he has been linked with recently. He will also return to France to play against his former team Lille.
For Stuttgart, their other matches include Inter Milan away, Club Brugge at home, PSV Eindhoven away, Lille at home, Viking at home, and Slovan Bratislava away.
The group stage will kick off between September 8 and 10, 2026. The final matches in this phase are set for January 27, 2027. Each of the 36 teams will play eight different opponents, with four matches at home and four away.
The top eight teams will automatically move to the last 16. Teams finishing from ninth to 24th will compete in a two-legged knockout play-off for the remaining spots.
Teams that finish 25th or lower will be out of European competition and will not drop into the Europa League.
Last season, Arsenal, who became runners-up, topped the group stage with 24 points after winning all their matches.
The Champions League final will take place at the Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid on June 5, 2027.
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