Champions League 2026-27 League Phase Draw: Date and Team Pots Explained
The draw for the league phase of the 2026-27 Champions League will happen on Thursday, 27 August at 17:00 BST in Monaco. A total of 36 teams will participate in this stage. Of those, 29 have already qualified based on last season's results, while the remaining seven spots will be decided through qualifying rounds that finish next week.
During the league phase, each team will face eight different opponents once, playing four matches at home and four away.
How Are Teams Sorted into Pots?
The 36 clubs are divided into four pots, ranked from one to four. The ranking relies on each club's UEFA coefficient over the five seasons ending with 2025-26. Every team will play two opponents from each pot but cannot meet a club from their own country.
The competition’s format means the top eight teams after the league phase advance directly to the round of 16. Teams placed ninth through 24th enter a knockout play-off round, while those ranked 25th to 36th are eliminated from the tournament.
Confirmed Teams in Each Pot
While seven spots remain undecided, most places are locked in, especially for the first two pots.
- Pot 1: Includes Premier League champions Arsenal, alongside Paris St-Germain (back-to-back winners), Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Liverpool, and Manchester City.
- Pot 2: Features Aston Villa and Manchester United returning after missing last season, as well as Borussia Dortmund, Roma, Sporting, Porto, Club Brugge, Real Betis, and PSV Eindhoven.
- Pot 3: Confirmed clubs include Feyenoord, Lille, Napoli, RB Leipzig, Villarreal, Shakhtar Donetsk, Galatasaray, plus the winner between Fenerbahce and Lyon.
- Pot 4: Contains VfB Stuttgart, Como, Lens, and winners of ties between Levski Sofia vs AEK Athens, Slovan Bratislava vs Celje, and Hapoel Be'er Sheva vs Sabah.
Teams With Uncertain Placement Between Pots 3 and 4
The last four spots depend on outcomes from several qualifying matches:
- Winner of NEC Nijmegen vs Bodo/Glimt
- Winner of Dinamo Zagreb vs Viking
- Winner of Celtic vs LASK
- Slavia Prague
If Bodo/Glimt wins, they claim a spot in pot three, pushing the other qualifiers and Slavia Prague into pot four. If NEC Nijmegen advances, Dinamo Zagreb could take the pot three place if they also win their tie and Bodo/Glimt loses.
Celtic and Slavia Prague share very close coefficient points, but Celtic’s better performance in the 2024-25 season might tip them into pot three if results go their way. Should all three teams lose, Slavia Prague fills the final pot four spot.
Summary of Teams by Pot
- Pot 1: Paris St-Germain (France), Bayern Munich (Germany), Real Madrid (Spain), Liverpool (England), Inter Milan (Italy), Manchester City (England), Arsenal (England), Barcelona (Spain), Atletico Madrid (Spain)
- Pot 2: Borussia Dortmund (Germany), Roma (Italy), Sporting (Portugal), Aston Villa (England), Porto (Portugal), Manchester United (England), Club Brugge (Belgium), Real Betis (Spain), PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands)
- Pot 3: Feyenoord (Netherlands), Lille (France), Napoli (Italy), RB Leipzig (Germany), Villarreal (Spain), Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine), Galatasaray (Turkey), Winner of Fenerbahce (Turkey) vs Lyon (France)
- Pot 3 or 4: Winner of NEC Nijmegen (Netherlands) vs Bodo/Glimt (Norway), Winner of Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia) vs Viking (Norway), Winner of Celtic (Scotland) vs LASK (Austria), Slavia Prague (Czech Republic)
- Pot 4: Winner of Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia) vs Celje (Slovenia), VfB Stuttgart (Germany), Winner of Levski Sofia (Bulgaria) vs AEK Athens (Greece), Como (Italy), Lens (France), Winner of Hapoel Be'er Sheva (Israel) vs Sabah (Azerbaijan)
