Inaki Williams ready to take UEFA Champions League by storm

Athletic Club forward Inaki Williams said that he cannot wait to hit ground running in the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League’s league phase.

🔝 ¡Ya están confirmados los rivales del Athletic en la Fase de Liga de la @ChampionsLeague!

🏠 @PSG_Inside
✈️ @BVB
🏠 @Arsenal
✈️ @Atalanta_BC
🏠 @SportingCP
✈️ @slaviaofficial
🏠 @FKQarabagh
✈️ @NUFC

🗓️ Este sábado se conocerá el orden de los partidos, fechas y horarios.… pic.twitter.com/E6E63ounPA

— Athletic Club (@AthleticClub) August 28, 2025

The Rojiblancos are making a return to Europe’s elite club competition after eleven years and they have been pitted against European champions PSG, Arsenal, Sporting CP and Kazakh outfit Qarabag for their home matches.

They have a tall order in their away fixtures where they will battle former champions Borussia Dortmund, Newcastle United, 2023 Europa League winners Atalanta and Slavia Prague.

Williams, who has been invited by Ghana head coach Otto Addo to the squad for 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against Chad and Mali, expressed confidence in the team’s chances ahead of the top fixtures.

“The truth is we are all excited. Today, we were discussing it is not going to be an easy group. We have some very, very special home matches,” he told Athletic Club’s media.

“The best teams in Europe are going to play at the San Mames. So there is a reason for Athletic fans to be excited. We have some very nice away trips too. We will try to take them head on, like we have always done in recent years. We will see how far we can go,” he added.

“To be honest it’s been a few years since we last heard the anthem. With the exception of Yuri, the rest have never played in the UEFA Champions League. We can’t wait to here it and our fans to get excited about it,” he said.

Williams played the full match in Athletic Club’s 3-2 victory against Sevilla in the 2025/26 La Liga opener before playing 79 minutes in their slim 1-0 win over Rayo Vallecano in the day two fixture.

He is expected to join his Black Stars teammates for the World Cup qualifiers against Chad and Mali next week. Ghana will travel to N’Djamen as guests of Chad in match day 7 on September 4 before hosting Mali at the Accra Sports Stadium four days later in match day 8.

⚽ Follow Pan-Africa Football across platforms for real-time news and stories.