Five English clubs discover the fate of the 2026/27 Champions League league phase draw, getting underway at 5pm.
Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Aston Villa and Manchester United all feature in this season’s tournament. You can watch a live stream of draw by scrolling just a little further down in this article…
Which teams are in which pots?
Pot 1: Paris (FRA), Bayern München (GER), Real Madrid (ESP), Liverpool (ENG), Inter Milan (ITA), Man City (ENG), Arsenal (ENG), Barcelona (ESP), Atletico Madrid (ESP)
Pot 2: Borussia Dortmund (GER), Roma (ITA), Sporting CP (POR), Aston Villa (ENG), Porto (POR), Man Utd (ENG), Club Brugge (BEL), Real Betis (ESP), PSV (NED)
Pot 3: Feyenoord (NED), Lille (FRA), Bodo/Glimt (NOR), Napoli (ITA), Leipzig (GER), Villarreal (ESP), Fenerbahçe (TUR), Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR), Galatasaray (TUR)
Pot 4: Slavia Praha (CZE), SK Slovan Bratislava (SVK), Stuttgart (GER), AEK Athens (GRE), LASK (AUT), Como (ITA), Lens (FRA), Viking (NOR), Sabah (AZE)
DRAW EXPLAINED:
CBS Sports Golazo’s Claudia Pagan said: “The draw for the 2026/27 Champions League takes place in Monaco shortly with the Swiss model now in its third season. Here’s a rundown on how all of this is going to work.
“Following the conclusion of Wednesday qualifiers, we now have our 36 teams that will play in this season’s Champions League. More clubs, more chaos, more opportunities for the powers of the footballing worlds to play each other.
“Those 36 teams are divided into four different pots of 9 teams based on their five-year UEFA club coefficient.
“The exception being that the winner of last year’s tournament, PSG, are automatically placed as the top seed in pot one.
“The clubs are manually drawn and then automated software kicks in and assigns eight opponents at random.
“However, there are rules here. Each club will play two different teams from each pot, one home and won away.
“A club also cannot play a team from the same federation. So you won’t get Manchester City versus Manchester United or Real Madrid versus Barcelona during the league phase.”
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DRAW:
REAL MADRID FIXTURES – Inter Milan (home), Arsenal (away), PSV Eindhoven (home), Roma (away), Leipzig (home), Shakhtar (away), LASK (home), AEK Athens (away)
MANCHESTER CITY FIXTURES – PSG (home), Barcelona (away), Sporting Club (home), Porto (away), Napoli (home), Leipzig (away), AEK Athens (home), Lens (away)
INTER FIXTURES Liverpool (home), Real Madrid (away), Club Brugge (home), Borussia Dortmund (away), Shakhtar (home), Feyenoord (away), Stuttgart (home), Slovan Bratislava (away)
BARCELONA FIXTURES – Man City (home), PSG (away), Aston Villa (home), Sporting Club (away), Feyenoord (home), Galatasaray (away), Como (home), Sabah (away)
ATLETICO MADRID FIXTURES – Bayern Munich (home), Liverpool (away), Manchester United (home), PSV (away), Fenerbahce (home), Bodo/Glimt (away), Viking (home), Stuttgart (away)
PSG FIXTURES – Barcelona (home), Man City (away), Roma (home), Aston Villa (away), Galatasaray (home), Villarreal (away), Bratislava (home), Como (away)
LIVERPOOL FIXTURES – Atletico Madrid (home), Inter Milan (away), Porto (home), Club Brugge (away), Villarreal (home), Fenerbahce (away), Lens (home), LASK (away)
ARSENAL FIXTURES – Real Madrid (home), Bayern Munich (away), Borussia Dortmund (home), Real Betis (away), Lille (home), Napoli (away), Sabah (home), Slavia Prague (away)
BAYERN MUNICH FIXTURES – Arsenal (home), Atletico Madrid (away), Real Betis (away), Manchester United (away), Bodo/Glimt (home), Lille (away), Slavia Prague (home), Viking (away)
BORUSSIA DORTMUND FIXTURES – Inter Milan (home), Arsenal (away), Real Betis (home), Aston Villa (away), Villarreal (home), Bodo/Glimt (away), AEK Athens (home), Sabah (away)
Key dates: League stage matches
The Champions League fixture list with match dates and kick-off times will be communicated no later than Saturday the 29th of August.
League Phase
Matchday 1: 8–10 September 2026
Matchday 2: 13/14 October 2026
Matchday 3: 20/21 October 2026
Matchday 4: 3/4 November 2026
Matchday 5: 24/25 November 2026
Matchday 6: 8/9 December 2026
Matchday 7: 19/20 January 2027
Matchday 8: 27 January 2027
Knockout phase
Play-offs: 16/17 & 23/24 February 2027
Round of 16: 9/10 & 16/17 March 2027
Quarter-finals: 6/7 & 13/14 April 2027
Semi-finals: 27/28 April & 4/5 May 2027
Final: 5 June 2027 (Madrid)
When are the 2026/27 Champions League draws?
First qualifying round: 16 June 2026
Second qualifying round: 17 June 2026
Third qualifying round: 20 July 2026
Play-off round: 3 August 2026
League phase: 27 August 2026
Knockout phase draws to be confirmed
It is also worth mentioning that Shakhtar Donetsk will play their home matches at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine preventing them from playing at home.
It read, as per Chelsea’s website: “Subject to regulatory approvals, FC Shakhtar will play their home matches of the UEFA Champions League league phase at Stamford Bridge for the 2026/27 season.
“Given Chelsea FC’s disappointing 2025/26 season and failure to qualify for European football, the club is pleased to provide FC Shakhtar with the opportunity to play in London – the United Kingdom’s capital – for their Champions League campaign. Shakhtar have played in cities across Europe, including Hamburg in Germany and Warsaw in Poland. This coming season, FC Shakhtar will play in London at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea Football Club said: ‘FC Shakhtar have played in countries across Europe and we look forward to welcoming them to London for their Champions League campaign this year.
‘We will be working with the Shakhtar team closely over the coming weeks to ensure that matchdays run safely and smoothly for their team and supporters.’
FC Shakhtar said: ‘Playing our Champions League home matches at Stamford Bridge is a special opportunity for Shakhtar. We are grateful to Chelsea Football Club for the opportunity to host our games at this special venue. Stamford Bridge is one of the most famous stadiums in world football, with an incredible history and atmosphere. We are convinced that Shakhtar’s matches in London will provide unforgettable emotions for Ukrainian and English fans.’
Four-game bundles for the Shakhtar’s Champions League home league stage matches are now available to Chelsea season ticket holders and members priced at £185. Click to purchase
