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

MILAN, ITALY – MARCH 11: The UEFA Champions League trophy is displayed on a plinth at the side of the pitch prior to the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 UEFA Champions League 2024/25 Round of 16 Second Leg match between FC Internazionale Milano and Feyenoord at on March 11, 2025 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

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

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

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