5 must-watch UEFA Champions League matches featuring CanMNT players

On Thursday afternoon, UEFA held its draw for the League Phase of the 2025-26 UEFA Champions League. 

Five Canadian internationals are currently on the roster of clubs competing in this year’s edition of the Champions League, with more (namely, Tani Oluwaseyi to Villarreal) expected to be announced soon. Tajon Buchanan (Villarreal), Derek Cornelius (Marseille), Promise David (Union St-Gilloise), Jonathan David (Juventus) and Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich) learned their respective sides’ fixtures. 

This year will once again feature a single-table League phase consisting of 36 teams. The top eight finishers after eight matchdays advance directly to the round of 16, and 9-24 compete in the knockout round. 

While the full schedule in terms of dates and times has yet to be released, here are five fixtures revealed on Thursday featuring Canadians that are must-watch in this year’s UEFA Champions League: 

Villarreal vs. Juventus

Two of Canada’s most lethal attackers will get the opportunity to go head-to-head in this year’s Champions League, with Tajon Buchanan’s Villarreal hosting Jonathan David’s Juventus. 

Should he play, this will be Buchanan’s second foray in the Champions League, having appeared in six matches for Club Brugge in the competition back in 2022-23. 

With the expectation that Tani Oluwaseyi will also be part of this fixture, this is going to be a must-watch match for all Canadian soccer fans, and a celebration of how far the game in this country has come. 

Real Madrid vs. Juventus 

David made headlines last season by scoring against Real Madrid in a 1-0 victory for Lille OSC in the Champions League. Now he will get the chance to do so at the Burnabeau, where Juventus travel for a heavyweight bout in the Champions League group stage. 

The 25-year-old David finished last year’s Champions League with seven goals, tied for ninth in scoring in the competition, a number he will look to surpass this season. 

This fixture has a lot of history to it within this competition, with the two sides meeting in the final in both 1997-98 and 2016-17. Madrid prevailed on both of those occasions. 

Villarreal vs. Manchester City 

Another big test for the Yellow Submarines in the League Phase will see them host Premier League side Manchester City. 

The 2023 Champions, City, will be looking for redemption after finishing 22nd in last year’s League Phase, and being eliminated in the knockout round by Real Madrid. 

For Tajon Buchanan, this match will give him another opportunity to face one of the top teams in Europe, and continue to grow his confidence against the World’s best ahead of this summer’s World Cup for Canada. 

Bayern Munich vs. Union St Gilloise 

The health of Alphonso Davies, and namely when this match is played, will loom large in its intrigue for Canadian fans.

Getting to watch him go up against national teammate Promise David, and Belgian champs Union St-Gilloise, would be an outstanding moment for Canadians in the competition. 

But, regardless, after an outstanding first season in Belgium with Champions Union St-Gilloise, Promise David will get a chance to travel to the Allianz Arena during this year’s Champions League competition and face a giant of world football. It will be a special moment in his young career. 

There is also the possibility that David could face off against Derek Cornelius and Marseille, but Cornelius’s future with the French club remains unknown. 

Paris Saint-Germain vs. Bayern Munich

Another match where Alphonso Davies’ health will be a question as to its importance for Canadian fans – especially if it is played in one of the first three Matchdays, with Davies not expected to return from an ACL injury until November. 

But if he’s on the pitch, the opportunity for Canada’s brightest star to face off against the defending Champions League winners, and the best team in Europe right now, is sure to be one of the best fixtures of the League Phase. 

Davies, of course, is a Champions League winner and after the disappointment of last year’s competition, where he was injured before Inter Milan eliminated Bayern, will be looking for redemption in this year’s competition.