The league phase draw for the 2026-27 UEFA Champions League is scheduled for Thursday, 27 August, kicking off at 17:00 BST in Monaco. Of the 36 clubs set to enter the league phase, 29 have already secured their spots through last season's results, while the final seven places remain open and will be decided by qualifying ties concluding next week.

How the league phase works

Each of the 36 clubs will play eight matches in the league phase — four at home and four away — facing a different opponent in every fixture. Teams finishing in the top eight advance to the round of 16. Those ranked between ninth and 24th drop into a play-off knockout round, while the bottom 12, from 25th to 36th, are eliminated.

How the pots are decided

The 36 clubs are divided into four pots for the draw, with pot one representing the highest-ranked sides and pot four the lowest. Rankings are based on each club's UEFA coefficient accumulated over the five seasons ending at the close of 2025-26. Every team will face two sides from each of the four pots and cannot be drawn against a club from the same country.

Pot one

Pot one is confirmed and features nine clubs: Paris St-Germain, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Manchester City, Arsenal, Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid. Notably, Paris St-Germain enter as back-to-back Champions League holders.

Pot two

Pot two is also confirmed. Aston Villa and Manchester United both return to the Champions League this season after missing out last term, joining Borussia Dortmund, Roma, Sporting, Porto, Club Brugge, Real Betis, and PSV Eindhoven in this grouping.

Pot three

Seven clubs are already guaranteed a pot three place: Feyenoord, Lille, Napoli, RB Leipzig, Villarreal, Shakhtar Donetsk, and Galatasaray. The winner of the qualifying tie between Fenerbahce and Lyon will also land in pot three.

The final pot three spot is contested. Bodo/Glimt claim it if they beat NEC Nijmegen. Should Bodo/Glimt lose, Dinamo Zagreb can take it by progressing past Viking. Celtic can claim it if they overcome LASK and both Bodo/Glimt and Dinamo Zagreb fall. Celtic hold a tiebreaker edge over Slavia Prague on 2024-25 coefficient points.

Pot four

VfB Stuttgart, Como, and Lens are confirmed in pot four, alongside the winners of three qualifying ties: Levski Sofia vs AEK Athens, Slovan Bratislava vs Celje, and Hapoel Be'er Sheva vs Sabah. The remaining pot four places will be filled by whichever clubs among NEC Nijmegen, Dinamo Zagreb, Celtic, and Slavia Prague do not secure a pot three position. If Bodo/Glimt, Dinamo Zagreb, and Celtic all lose, Slavia Prague takes the last pot four berth.