Real Madrid faced Inter Milan at the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid on Tuesday, September 8, as UEFA's Champions League opened its new league phase, with kickoff set for 4pm Brasilia time, 9pm local time in Madrid.
The fixture opened the first round of the league phase, the format that replaced the old group stage. The Champions League is European club football's most prestigious trophy, contested each season by clubs that qualify through their performance in domestic leagues, and since 2024 it has been played as a single 36-team league phase in which every club plays eight different opponents before the knockout rounds begin. A strong start in that table determines which sides go straight into the last 16 and which must survive a play-off round.
Real Madrid, the competition's all-time leading champions with 15 European Cup and Champions League titles, went into the match trying to end a run of two seasons without winning the trophy.
The club is managed by the Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho, who previously led Inter Milan to Champions League glory in 2010 before later taking charge at Real Madrid. His career has also included spells at Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Roma, making him one of the most well-travelled coaches in the modern game. Known as the Merengues, Real Madrid were looking to open their campaign with a win at the Bernabeu, a stadium in the Spanish capital regarded as one of the most famous venues in European football.
Ahead of the competition, Mourinho said that Real Madrid needed to win no matter what.
Real Madrid's league phase fixtures
Real Madrid's eight league phase matches are against Inter Milan (home), Arsenal (away), PSV Eindhoven (home), Roma (away), RB Leipzig (home), Shakhtar Donetsk (away), LASK (home) and AEK Athens (away).
Inter Milan eye an upset
Inter Milan, three-time European champions who last won the competition in 2010 under Mourinho, travelled to Madrid hoping to spring a surprise against one of the tournament's favourites on their own ground. The Italian club have reached two Champions League finals in the last four seasons, a record that shows they can unsettle Europe's strongest sides. Based in Milan, Inter are among Italian football's most decorated clubs and longstanding rivals of AC Milan, with whom they share the San Siro stadium for domestic fixtures.
Argentina international Lautaro Martinez, Inter Milan's captain and leading forward, is pictured below.
Inter Milan's eight league phase matches are against Liverpool (home), Real Madrid (away), Club Brugge (home), Borussia Dortmund (away), Shakhtar Donetsk (home), Feyenoord (away), VfB Stuttgart (home) and Slovan Bratislava (away).
How to watch
The match was broadcast in Brazil on SBT and TNT, streamed live on HBO Max, and followed with live text commentary on CNN Esportes.
