UEFA will conduct the draw for the 2026/27 UEFA Champions League league phase on Thursday, August 27 at 5pm UK time, with the competition itself kicking off on Tuesday, September 8.

The draw will determine the eight opponents each of the 36 participating clubs must face during the league phase — here is a full breakdown of how the process works.

How the league phase works

All 36 clubs compete in a single, unified league table. Each side plays eight matches in total, facing a different opponent in every fixture. After all games are completed, the top eight clubs advance directly to the round of 16.

Teams finishing between 9th and 24th enter a knockout phase play-off for the remaining last-16 spots. The bottom 12 clubs are eliminated from European competition entirely.

How the draw is conducted

The 36 clubs are split into four pots of nine teams each, ranked according to their UEFA coefficient — a score that reflects each club's European performances over recent seasons. Each club is then drawn to face two opponents from every pot, meaning they play against clubs from all four seeding groups.

The one restriction in place is that clubs from the same country cannot meet during the league phase. There are places still to be filled by winners of the qualifying play-offs, with Slavia Prague's pot position also dependent on those results.

The draw begins with the Pot 1 clubs. Balls are drawn to establish the order in which each club receives its fixtures, after which UEFA's computer assigns all eight opponents simultaneously. The process continues through Pots 2, 3, and 4 until all 36 clubs know their full schedule. Exact match dates are then confirmed in the days that follow.

As an illustration of how the draw could unfold: Liverpool might be paired with Real Madrid and Inter from Pot 1, Club Brugge and Sporting from Pot 2, Feyenoord and Shakhtar from Pot 3, and Como and Lens from Pot 4.

Qualifying play-offs

Seven two-legged play-off ties will determine which clubs join the 36-team league phase. The fixtures are:

Levski Sofia vs AEK Athens, Celtic vs LASK, Dinamo Zagreb vs Viking, Slovan Bratislava vs Celje, Hapoel Be'er Sheva vs Sabah, Fenerbahce vs Lyon, and NEC vs Bodo/Glimt.

The final

Atletico Madrid's Estadio Metropolitano will host the 2026/27 UEFA Champions League final, bringing the campaign to its conclusion in the Spanish capital.