Inter Milan President Beppe Marotta just dropped the ultimate mic-drop, declaring the team “have the right to dream” in the Champions League after a draw that throws them right into the fire against absolute giants like Liverpool and Real Madrid. We’re talking about the League Phase draw for the 2026/27 Champions League, which went down today in Monaco. Each squad will go up against four opponents at home and four away, making every single match critical.
That Champions League Draw Is NO JOKE
Seriously, this draw isn’t holding anything back. Inter, fresh off winning the Scudetto and Coppa Italia and hitting two Champions League Finals in the last four seasons, were the only Italian side to be top seeds. They are hosting Liverpool, Club Brugge, Shakhtar Donetsk, and VfB Stuttgart. Yeah, Liverpool, the team that *just* sold Curtis Jones to Inter last week. Talk about a reunion! But wait, there’s more. They also get a reunion with Treble-winning coach Jose Mourinho, who’s now leading Real Madrid. Plus, they’ve got trips lined up to face Borussia Dortmund, Feyenoord, and Slovan Bratislava. Marotta isn’t wrong when he says this is “always a fascinating occasion” and that we’re talking about “the most important competition in world football.” This is their ninth year in a row in the Champions League, so they’re definitely a fixture now.
New Faces, Big Ambition: But Can They Go All The Way?
Inter wasn’t messing around this summer. They snagged three England internationals: Curtis Jones from Liverpool, Djed Spence from Tottenham Hotspur, and free agent John Stones after his Manchester City contract ran out. Marotta credits the technical staff, Piero Ausilio, Dario Baccin, and Cristian Chivu for these moves. He emphasized that “the most important thing is the number of titles that these players bring with them, their quality and experience.” That’s the kind of ambition you love to see! While they haven’t won the Champions League since their 2010 Treble, they’ve been close, reaching the Final twice in the last four seasons. Last term saw a frustrating exit in the play-offs to Bodo/Glimt, even with the Domestic Double helping to ease the sting. Marotta summed it up perfectly: “We must always be ambitious, we are a team who had strong runs in the Champions League in recent years. We have quality, but also the right to dream.”
This new format makes everything so wild and unpredictable. It means we won’t know until the last second who goes straight through to the Round of 16, who ends up in the play-offs (for those 9th to 24th), and who gets knocked out of Europe entirely in January. This team has the talent, the recent success, and now the fresh blood to make some serious noise. Get ready, because this Champions League run is going to be absolutely insane.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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