Real Madrid and Inter face off on Matchday 1 of the 2026–27 UEFA Champions League league phase, and here are all the live updates from this high-stakes matchup. The 2026–27 UEFA Champions League is officially underway. On Matchday 1 of the league phase, Real Madrid host Inter in what promises to be a thrilling encounter at the Santiago Bernabeu. Real Madrid have endured a rocky start to the 2026–27 season. They recently suffered a defeat to Real Betis in LaLiga, leading many to believe the squad has not yet found its footing under manager Jose Mourinho. In contrast, Inter have won all three of their opening fixtures in Serie A. The Nerazzurri are also coming off a 2025–26 domestic title run, establishing them as genuine contenders for the Champions League crown this campaign.
⚽ Champions League news from the 5.45pm BST kick-off⚽ Live scores | Follow us on Instagram | Read Football DailyHarry Kane, Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice have been nominated for this year’s men’s Ballon d’Or while Alessia Russo and Alex Greenwood have been nominated for the women’s award.The 30 men’s and 30 women’s nominees were revealed by France Football magazine on Tuesday, with the winners to be announced at a ceremony in London on 26 October. Ousmane Dembélé, who won the men’s award last year, has been nominated again, as has his France teammate Kylian Mbappé, who made history when he overtook Lionel Messi for all-time World Cup goals (22) at this summer’s tournament. Continue reading...
Arda Guler and Bernardo Silva will both miss Real Madrid's Champions League opener against Inter Milan due to red-card suspensions carried over from last season. Real Madrid will be without Arda Guler and Bernardo Silva for their Champions League opener against Inter Milan, with both players serving suspensions carried over from red cards picked up in their final European appearances of last season. Eduardo Camavinga is also unavailable under the same circumstance, having been sent off by a second yellow card in the 87th minute of last season’s quarter-final second leg against Bayern Munich. Under UEFA regulations, yellow-card suspensions are wiped between seasons, but red-card bans carry forward, meaning Jose Mourinho has no way around the absences barring an exceptional pardon, which has not been granted in either case. The Portuguese coach will instead turn to Aurelien Tchouameni and Federico Valverde to anchor his midfield against an Inter side eager to make an early statement in the new league phase. 📋✅ ¡Nuestros convocados!🆚 @Inter_es pic.twitter.com/2hmtAAD7Kd— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) September 8, 2026 Where do Guler and Silva’s suspensions come from? Guler‘s suspension stems from a sending-off in the same quarter-final second leg against Bayern Munich in which Camavinga was also dismissed, with the Turkish midfielder picking up two yellow cards of his own. The one-match ban that followed had gone unserved by the end of last season and now carries into Real Madrid’s first group-phase match of the new campaign. Bernardo Silva‘s case carries a layer of irony, since his red card came while he was still playing for Manchester City against Real Madrid in last season’s round of 16, when he was sent off for deliberately handling the ball to stop a goal, a decision that led to Vinicius Junior converting the resulting penalty. Having since completed a move to the Bernabeu, the Portuguese midfielder now finds himself suspended for his own team’s Champions League opener because of that incident.
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