2025/26 Real Madrid schedule – Key dates

2025 has already been an incredibly busy year for Los Blancos, with the Real Madrid schedule allowing for very little summer break due to the Club World Cup. The new domestic season starts in August as the Xabi Alonso era fully begins.

Below, you’ll find the expected Real Madrid calendar for the 2025/26 season. There may yet be minor changes to this, and anyone hoping to buy Bernabeu tickets should be aware that weekend league fixtures can in theory be moved to any point between Friday and Monday nights, although Real Madrid are almost always scheduled to play in LaLiga on either a Saturday or a Sunday.

2025/26 Real Madrid schedule – Month by month

August 2025 – Straight into the new season

Real Madrid do not currently have any pre-season friendlies confirmed, and it’s possible that they may go straight into the new LaLiga campaign without playing any warm-up games as a result of the Club World Cup.

The club was keen to make a later start to the new season, but they will have a fixture on matchday one against Osasuna at the Santiago Bernabeu. That has been confirmed for Tuesday August 19th at 21:00 local time.

Los Blancos will then face newly-promoted Real Oviedo and Mallorca before the month is out, with Alonso’s side afforded a relatively favourable set of opening league fixtures after their busy summer.

September 2025 – Champions League kicks off & a derby date

Things heat up after the international break, with some tough league games in September for Los Blancos including the trip to Real Sociedad, and the first Madrid derby of the 2025/26 season at the Estadio Metropolitano.

The month also sees the start of the new Champions League campaign, with Alonso’s side beginning their bid for a 16th European Cup at some point between September 16th and 18th. Their eight league-phase opponents will be drawn in Monaco on August 28th.

October 2025 – Clasico time

If it’s scheduled for Sunday October 26th rather than the Saturday, Real Madrid’s Clasico clash with Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu will take place exactly one year after the corresponding fixture last season which produced a 4-0 scoreline in favour of Hansi Flick’s side.

This will be Alonso’s first Clasico in the dugout, and it comes at the end of a relatively quiet month that is only currently expected to feature three other matches, largely because of the international break.

November 2025 – Three away games on the spin in LaLiga

Real Madrid are expected to play six matches in November, including two in the Champions League as the league phase passes the midway point.

They will finish the month with three straight away games in LaLiga, with trips to Vallecas, the Martinez Valero and Montilivi.

December 2025 – A busy year finally ends

An incredibly busy Real Madrid calendar for 2025 concludes in December with a relatively favourable schedule for the month which may come as some relief to what’s likely to be quite a tired squad by this point.

They have two home fixtures in LaLiga either side of a trip to Alaves, while there’s also one more Champions League match and a Copa del Rey 3rd round trip to lower-league opposition to negotiate before the festive break.

January 2026 – A trip to Saudi Arabia & a top-eight UCL target

The Real Madrid key dates for 2026 include some important games in January. The month will serve up the first chance to win domestic silverware under Alonso when the Supercopa takes place in early January in Saudi Arabia. Real will face Atleti in a Madrid derby in the semi-finals, before taking on Barcelona or Athletic Club in the final should they advance.

They are also likely to be in Copa del Rey action this month, while the league phase of the Champions League concludes with a top-eight finish the target as they bid to avoid having to negotiate a play-off in February.

There’s likely to be three or four fixtures in LaLiga too, while they are also scheduled to play Athletic Club in the league on the weekend of January 10th/11th, but that match is sure to be moved to another date due to the Supercopa.

February 2026 – The Copa del Rey heads into the last four

Real Madrid’s schedule for February 2026 will largely depend on how they’ve been getting on in the cup competitions. If they are knocked out of the Copa del Rey before the quarter-final stage and finish in the top eight in the league phase of the Champions League, they will only have league action this month, with the trip to Mestalla the standout fixture.

However, there is the potential for two Copa del Rey and two Champions League fixtures. Last season they did need to negotiate the play-off round in Europe, and they defeated Manchester City over two legs in February in one of the best performances of an otherwise underwhelming campaign.

March 2026 – Atleti visit the Bernabeu

March will see the Champions League round-of-16 take place as the knockout stage proper commences and Real Madrid will certainly be expecting to be involved in that, with a home second leg on March 17th/18th guaranteed if they can secure a top-eight finish in the league stage.

They beat Atletico Madrid on penalties at the corresponding stage last season, and they will host their city rivals in LaLiga in their final game in March this year, with a fortnight break for the internationals immediately following that.

April 2026 – A decisive month in Europe and potentially two trips to La Cartuja

The Spanish football schedule is pretty relentless once the action resumes after the internationals, at least for the clubs still battling it out on multiple fronts.

Real Madrid would certainly rather be faced with that problem than not have it, and they’ll be hoping to have three Champions League fixtures in April as the quarter-finals and semi-final 1st legs take place.

There’s also the potential for two trips to La Cartuja in the space of little more than a week, with Los Blancos scheduled to take on Real Betis at the Seville ground in LaLiga on the weekend of April 18th/19th, while they’ll return for the Copa del Rey final the following Saturday if they make it that far.

May 2026 – Madrid target the big two prizes

As always, May is the business end of the season and will see Los Blancos play their final five matches of LaLiga 2025/26, including El Clasico in Barcelona on the weekend of May 9th/10th.

We should have a pretty clear idea of the direction of the title race after that point, and the side from the Spanish capital will finish the season with home games against Oviedo and Athletic Club, either side of a trip to Sevilla.

On the European front, Real Madrid could be in Champions League semi-final 2nd leg action just a few days before El Clasico, and were they to advance from that, they’d close out their season in Budapest on Saturday May 30th when the Champions League final will take place. Europe’s most successful club last won the competition at Wembley in 2024.

The exact Real Madrid schedule will be unveiled in due course as LaLiga releases more information about kick-off times, and as the team makes progress in the various competitions.

For those hoping to catch Los Blancos in action, tickets can be purchased via the club’s official website, although demand for some games is so high that it can be very difficult for non-members to purchase tickets via the regular means.

Alternative options include making use of a football travel package services such as footballtravel.com, or by buying tickets from third-party resale sites such as Hellotickets. Real Madrid do also have plenty of hospitality tickets which go on sale a bit earlier than the regular ones and often have greater availability.