2026-27 Champions League League Phase Draw: Date and Team Pots Explained
The draw for the 2026-27 UEFA Champions League league phase is scheduled for Thursday, 27 August at 17:00 BST in Monaco. This stage will feature 36 teams, with 29 clubs having qualified directly from last season, while seven spots will be decided by qualifying rounds concluding next week.
Format of the League Phase
Each team will play against eight different opponents, with four matches at home and four away. The 36 teams are divided into four pots, ranked from highest to lowest based on their UEFA club coefficient over the past five seasons, ending with 2025-26.
Every club will face two teams from each pot but cannot be drawn against teams from their own country. After this phase, the top eight teams move directly to the round of 16, those ranked ninth through 24th enter a knockout play-off round, and teams placed 25th to 36th are eliminated.
Confirmed Teams and Pot Assignments
While seven spots remain undecided, 29 teams have secured their places and mostly know their pot allocations. Both Pot 1 and Pot 2 are fully confirmed, each containing nine teams.
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 and Pot 4 Details
Some uncertainty remains for the last seven places, which will be split between pots three and four.
Pot 3 Confirmed
- Feyenoord (Netherlands)
- Lille (France)
- Napoli (Italy)
- RB Leipzig (Germany)
- Villarreal (Spain)
- Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine)
- Galatasaray (Turkey)
- Winner of Fenerbahce (Turkey) vs Lyon (France)
Teams Could Be in Pot 3 or Pot 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 Confirmed
- 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)
Deciding the Final Pot Placements
If Bodo/Glimt beats NEC Nijmegen, they will claim the remaining spot in pot 3. That would place Slavia Prague and the winners of the other two qualifiers into pot 4.
Should NEC Nijmegen win, Dinamo Zagreb—with the better club coefficient—could reach pot 3 if they beat Viking. Meanwhile, the battle between Celtic and Slavia Prague is tight, as both have similar coefficients. However, Celtic earned more points in the 2024-25 season, so if they advance and others lose, Celtic could take the final pot 3 slot.
If all three teams—Bodo/Glimt, Dinamo Zagreb, and Celtic—lose, Slavia Prague gets the last spot in pot 4.
