Roma return to Champions League as second-seed club for 2026-27 league phase draw

Roma will learn their eight opponents in the Champions League League Phase at 18:00 today in Monte Carlo, with the draw determining their path through the opening stage of Europe's elite competition. As a second-pot team, Gian Piero Gasperini's side will face two opponents from each of the four pots, playing four home and four away matches across the phase. Roma cannot draw fellow Serie A clubs Inter, Napoli or Como, who sit in pots 1, 3 and 4 respectively. Roma's seeding reflects their European record in recent seasons across the Europa League and Conference League. The first pot contains the competition's biggest names: PSG, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid. A draw from this group could quickly establish the difficulty of Roma's European campaign under Gasperini. From Roma's own pot come potential opponents Borussia Dortmund, Sporting CP, Aston Villa, Porto, Manchester United, Club Brugge, Real Betis and PSV. The third pot features Feyenoord, Lille, Bodø/Glimt, Leipzig, Villarreal, Fenerbahçe, Shakhtar Donetsk and Galatasaray. The fourth pot includes Slavia Prague, Slovan Bratislava, Stuttgart, AEK Athens, LASK Linz, Lens, Viking and Sabah. After Roma's return to the Champions League, the draw will reveal the scale of their challenge to reach the knockout stage.

Roma will discover their eight opponents in the 2026-27 UEFA Champions League league phase at a draw ceremony today, Thursday 27 August, at 18:00 at the Grimaldi Forum in Monte Carlo. The draw will determine the path for the Italian club's return to the competition's top tier after a seven-year absence, following their third-place finish in Serie A last season. As the second-seeded Italian side in the league phase, Roma will face two opponents from each of the four UEFA ranking bands, with one home match and one away against each. The format applies restrictions: no meetings with clubs from the same nation, and a maximum of two opponents from any single country. The eight group-stage matchdays run from 8–10 September through 27 January 2027, with fixtures scheduled across September, October, November, December and January. The ceremony will be broadcast live on free-to-air TV8 in Italy, as well as on Sky Sport channels (subscription required), and via live-streaming on NOW and Amazon Prime Video (subscription required), plus UEFA's official website. The matchdays are: first on 8–10 September; second on 13–14 October; third on 20–21 October; fourth on 3–4 November; fifth on 24–25 November; sixth on 8–9 December; seventh on 19–20 January 2027; and eighth on 27 January 2027.

Mile Svilar celebrated his 27th birthday on 27 August as Roma resumed training ahead of their away fixture at Lecce. Nahuel Molina, absent from the match against Fiorentina due to blisters on his foot, completed the full session and is in contention to make his Roma debut. Devyne Rensch remains sidelined with a hamstring issue, and his availability for selection remains doubtful. Roma's participation in the UEFA Champions League is already worth close to €50 million to the club via the so-called "value pillar", which is linked to television market revenue and league ranking. On top of that, Roma will receive €18.6 million in appearance bonuses, plus prize money for results and progression. Each victory in the league phase is worth €2.1 million, while each draw brings €700,000. The XV Municipio has proposed converting 66,000 square metres of unused public land around Tor di Quinto into car parks capable of holding almost 3,000 vehicles on match days and during major events. The aim is to ease traffic congestion and illegal parking in the areas between Ponte Milvio, Farnesina, Vigna Stelluti and Fleming, which has been worsened by Metro C construction works. A meeting has been requested with the municipal authority, relevant councils and Sport and Health.