The new league-phase format of the UEFA Champions League has introduced a challenge that goes far beyond tactics and form, with record-winners Real Madrid facing a bigger impact than most.
With 36 clubs each set to play four away matches, Sportingpedia has analysed the distances teams must cover, revealing a stark divide between marathon journeys from Europe’s fringes and short hops across the continent’s core.
No club faces a tougher schedule than Kairat Almaty. The Kazakh champions are expected to travel a total of 22,388 kilometres, including the single longest journey of the phase, a 6,904-kilometre trip to Sporting Lisbon. To put that in perspective, Atalanta, who face the shortest travel burden, will log just 2,279 kilometres in total. Their longest trip, to Brussels, is under 900 kilometres.
Qarabag of Azerbaijan also sit among the hardest hit, with 15,579 kilometres to cover across visits to Liverpool, Lisbon, Naples, and Bilbao. Real Madrid rank third with 10,729 kilometres, most of which comes from their daunting trip to Almaty. Pafos of Cyprus (10,335) and Norway’s Bodo/Glimt (9,947) complete the top five.
By contrast, Italian and German clubs enjoy a significant advantage. Inter, Borussia Dortmund, and Juventus will all travel fewer than 3,500 kilometres. Three of the shortest individual away trips are also concentrated in Western Europe: Union Saint-Gilloise’s 102-kilometre journey to PSV, PSV’s 116-kilometre trip to Leverkusen, and Monaco’s 150-kilometre visit to Juventus.
Sportingpedia’s findings highlight how geography is shaping the competition. Clubs such as Kairat and Qarabag will contend not only with elite opponents but also with the strain of long-haul travel, jet lag, and reduced recovery time. Western European sides, meanwhile, benefit from being close to the Champions League’s geographical centre, giving them more time on the training pitch and less in the air.
The analysis underlines how the 2025-26 Champions League will test more than talent. Success may hinge on how well clubs manage the demands of this new format – where the road to Budapest is as much about kilometres as it is about goals.
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