Champions League Draw Scheduled for 27 August: Teams and Pots Revealed
The draw for the league phase of the 2026-27 UEFA Champions League will take place on Thursday, 27 August at 17:00 BST in Monaco, featuring 36 teams divided into four pots.
The highly anticipated draw for the league phase of the 2026-27 UEFA Champions League is set to occur on Thursday, 27 August at 17:00 BST in Monaco. This year’s competition will see a total of 36 teams vying for glory, with 29 clubs having qualified based on their performance in the previous season, while the remaining seven spots were filled through play-offs.
During the league phase, each team will compete against eight different opponents, with four matches played at home and four away. The draw will categorise the teams into four pots, ranked according to their UEFA club coefficient from the five-season period concluding at the end of the 2025-26 season.
Pot Allocations
- Pot 1: Paris St-Germain, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Manchester City, Arsenal, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid
- Pot 2: Borussia Dortmund, Roma, Sporting, Aston Villa, Porto, Manchester United, Club Brugge, Real Betis, PSV Eindhoven
- Pot 3: Feyenoord, Lille, Bodo/Glimt, Napoli, RB Leipzig, Villarreal, Shakhtar Donetsk, Galatasaray, Fenerbahce
- Pot 4: Viking, Slovan Bratislava, Slavia Prague, VfB Stuttgart, LASK, AEK Athens, Como, Lens, Sabah
Notably, Premier League champions Arsenal will be looking to improve upon their performance from last season, where they finished as runners-up to Paris St-Germain. This season, they are joined in Pot 1 by fellow English clubs Liverpool and Manchester City, as well as other European heavyweights.
In a recent announcement, UEFA introduced a new regulation preventing teams from hosting the same opponent in three consecutive league phases. This means that Liverpool will not face Real Madrid at Anfield, and Arsenal will not travel to Inter Milan, although these fixtures could still occur in reverse.
The top eight teams from the league phase will advance to the round of 16, while those finishing between ninth and 24th will enter the play-off knockout round. The bottom 12 teams will exit the competition once the league phase concludes.
Fans can watch the draw live on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app, ensuring they stay updated on their teams’ paths in this prestigious tournament.
Source: This original report was produced by WTGO Newsroom using verified reporting from BBC Sport.