Champions League: Napoli, Inter, Juventus and Atalanta – Who had the best draw? | OneFootball

Napoli, Inter, Atalanta, and Juventus have learned their opponents in the Champions League, and Nerazzurri, coached by Cristian Chivu and Ivan Juric, appear to have the most challenging path among the Italian teams.

The Champions League draw for the 2025-26 season resulted in some intriguing matchups for Serie A clubs.

Chelsea to visit Italy twice

EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY – JULY 13: Enzo Maresca, Head Coach of Chelsea FC, celebrates with the FIFA Club World Cup trophy after their team’s victory following the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 Final match between Chelsea FC and Paris Saint-Germain at MetLife Stadium on July 13, 2025 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Buda Mendes/Getty Images)

Napoli and Atalanta, for example, will host Chelsea, but the Partenopei will also visit Kevin De Bruyne’s former club, Manchester City.

Real Madrid are arguably the toughest opponents for Juventus, while Inter will have to face Liverpool, Arsenal, Borussia Dortmund, and Atlético Madrid.

How we ranked opponents of Serie A clubs

MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA – JULY 01: Gonzalo Garcia #30 of Real Madrid C.F. scores his team’s first goal past Michele Di Gregorio #29 of Juventus FC during the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 round of 16 match between Real Madrid CF and Juventus FC at Hard Rock Stadium on July 01, 2025 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

To gauge the difficulty of each Serie A club’s draw, Football Italia assigned ‘star ratings’ to each opponent.

For example, Liverpool, Real Madrid and Manchester City, who are among the main favourites to lift the trophy, were awarded five stars. Borussia Dortmund and Atletico Madrid received four, and so on.

Adding up to the totals, Inter and Atalanta’s opponents scored a combined 24 stars, more than any other Serie A club representative.

Juventus, on the other hand, seem to have a slightly easier pathway with a combined rating of 22, just one more than Napoli.

Obviously, the evaluation of each opponent is purely subjective, so you can do exactly the same thing or head to the comments section to let us know who you think got the most difficult draw among the Italian clubs.

Juventus B. Dortmund (H) **** Real Madrid (A) ***** Benfica (H) *** Villarreal (A) *** Sporting CP (H) ** Bodo/Glimt (A) ** Pafos (H) * Monaco (A) ** Total: 22

Napoli Chelsea (H) ***** Man City (A) ***** Frankfurt (H) *** Benfica (A) *** Sporting CP (H) ** PSV (A) *** Qarabag (H) * Copenhagen (A) * Total: 23

Atalanta

Chelsea (H) ***** PSG (A) ***** C. Brugge (H) ** Frankfurt (A) *** S. Praha (H) ** Marseille (A) *** Athletic Club (H) *** Union SG (A) * Total: 24

Inter Liverpool (H) ***** B. Dortmund (A) **** Arsenal (H) ***** A. Madrid (A) **** S. Praha (H) ** Ajax (A) ** K. Almaty (H) * Union SG (A) * Total: 24