Champions League 2026-27 League Phase Draw: Date and Team Pots Revealed

When is the Champions League 2026-27 League Phase Draw?

The draw for the 2026-27 UEFA Champions League league phase will happen on Thursday, 27 August at 17:00 BST in Monaco. A total of 36 teams will compete in this stage, with 29 clubs already qualified from last season. The last seven spots will be decided through qualifying rounds finishing the week before.

Format of the League Phase

Each team plays eight matches against eight different opponents, splitting these into four home games and four away games. For the draw, teams are divided into four pots based on their UEFA club coefficient over five seasons ending in 2025-26. Pot 1 holds the highest-ranked teams, while Pot 4 contains the lowest. Each club faces two teams from each pot but cannot meet another team from the same country.

The top eight teams after this phase advance directly to the round of 16. Teams placed ninth to 24th enter a knockout play-off, while those ranked 25th to 36th are eliminated.

Team Distribution Across Pots

While seven spots are still up for grabs, 29 teams have secured qualification and most know their pot placement.

Pot 1

This pot includes Premier League’s Liverpool, Manchester City, and Arsenal, alongside reigning Champions League winners Paris St-Germain. Other teams are Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid.

Pot 2

Returning to the Champions League after missing last season, Aston Villa and Manchester United join Borussia Dortmund, Roma, Sporting, Porto, Club Brugge, Real Betis, and PSV Eindhoven in pot two.

Pot 3

Teams guaranteed in pot three include Feyenoord, Lille, Napoli, RB Leipzig, Villarreal, Shakhtar Donetsk, and Galatasaray. The winner between Fenerbahce and Lyon will also slot into this pot.

Pot 4

VfB Stuttgart, Como, and Lens are confirmed in pot four. Winners of qualifying ties involving Levski Sofia vs AEK Athens, Slovan Bratislava vs Celje, and Hapoel Be'er Sheva vs Sabah will join them.

Teams Still Fighting for Pot Placement

The final four places come down to results in matches involving NEC Nijmegen vs Bodo/Glimt, Dinamo Zagreb vs Viking, Celtic vs LASK, and Slavia Prague. If Bodo/Glimt beats NEC Nijmegen, they take the last pot three spot. That outcome would push Slavia Prague and the other two winners into pot four.

If NEC Nijmegen wins, then Dinamo Zagreb can enter pot three if they beat Viking and Bodo/Glimt lose. Celtic and Slavia Prague are tied in coefficients, but Celtic earned more points in 2024-25, so if Celtic wins against LASK and both Bodo/Glimt and Dinamo Zagreb lose, Celtic claims the final pot three place. Otherwise, Slavia Prague takes the spot in pot four.

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)