Champions League 2026-27 League Phase Draw: Date and Pot Breakdown
The draw for the league phase of the 2026-27 Champions League will happen on Thursday, 27 August at 17:00 BST in Monaco. This stage will feature 36 teams in total. While 29 clubs have already qualified from last season’s results, the remaining seven spots will be filled by qualifiers that finish next week.
How the League Phase Works
Each team in the league phase will play eight matches against different opponents—four at home and four away. The 36 teams are split into four pots for the draw, ranked by their UEFA club coefficient over the last five seasons ending in 2025-26. Every team faces two sides from each pot but cannot be drawn against teams from their own country.
The top eight teams after this phase move straight to the round of 16. Those finishing ninth through 24th enter a knockout play-off, while the bottom 12 (positions 25 to 36) are eliminated from the competition.
Confirmed Teams and Their Pots
Out of the 36, 29 teams are confirmed, with nine clubs set in each of the first two pots. The other seven spots still depend on upcoming qualifiers, affecting pots three and four.
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)
How the Last Four Spots Will Be Decided
The final four places depend on several qualifying ties. For example, if Bodo/Glimt beats NEC Nijmegen, they take the last spot in pot 3. If not, Dinamo Zagreb could claim that spot if they beat Viking and Bodo/Glimt loses. Similarly, Celtic and Slavia Prague are closely matched on coefficients, but Celtic’s better points in 2024-25 could see them get pot 3 if the right results happen.
If all three lose, the final place falls to Slavia Prague in pot 4.
