Champions League 26/27 draw, dates, schedule, format and who has qualified from Premier League and around Europe

The league phase draw for the 2026/27 Champions League will take place on Thursday in Monaco and here is everything you need to know before it gets started.

How does the league phase draw work?

A total of 36 teams will enter the competition at this stage after 29 qualified at the end of last season. The remaining seven places are determined by the qualifiers.

In the new format, which is entering its third season since being implemented, teams now play fixtures against eight different teams - two teams from Pots 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Half of the eight league-phase matches are at home, with the other half away.

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The draw is done by a supercomputer, which automatically selects the eight opponents by one touch of a button.

Who is in each pot?

While four places via qualifiers are yet to be determined, 32 teams have been confirmed.

The pots are allocated based on UEFA's club coefficient rankings, which reflects results in European competitions across a five-year period ending in 2025/26.

Back-to-back champions Paris Saint-Germain are in Pot 1 along with Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Manchester City, Inter Milan, Arsenal, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.

Manchester United and Europa League winners Aston Villa, two clubs making their return to Europe's elite competition, have been placed in Pot 2.

Pot 1

• PSG

• Bayern Munich

• Real Madrid

• Liverpool

• Inter Milan

• Manchester City

• Arsenal

• Barcelona

• Atletico Madrid

Pot 2

• Aston Villa

• Manchester United

• Borussia Dortmund

• Roma

• Sporting

• Porto

• Club Brugge

• PSV Eindhoven

• Real Betis

Pot 3

• Feyenoord

• Lille

• Napoli

• RB Leipzig

• Villarreal

• Shakhtar Donetsk

• Galatasaray

Pot 3 or 4 - to be decided

• Bodo/Glimt

• LASK Linz

• Sabah

• Slavia Prague

• Stuttgart

• Como

• Lens

• Winner of Fenerbahce vs Lyon

• Winner of Dinamo Zagreb vs Viking

• Winner of Slovan Bratislava vs Celje

• Winner of Levski Sofia vs AEK Athens

Why Liverpool will avoid playing Real Madrid at home

Liverpool cannot be paired at home to Real Madrid in Thursday's Champions League draw due to new rules in the competition.

New UEFA regulations state that a team cannot play the same individual league phase fixture for three seasons in a row.

Liverpool have played Real Madrid at Anfield in each of the last two league phase campaigns. The Reds won 2-0 in November 2024 before beating Los Blancos 1-0 12 months later.

Liverpool can, however, be drawn against Real Madrid away on Thursday.

In Thursday's draw, each Champions League team will be paired with two teams from Pots 1 to 4 to make up their eight European league phase matches. Four are played at home and four are played away.

Liverpool also cannot be drawn against English teams in the league phase and as well as Real Madrid, there are two Premier League teams in Pot 1 - Arsenal and Man City.

That means Liverpool will definitely play one of Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Barcelona or Atletico Madrid at Anfield in this season's league phase.

The same applies for Arsenal, who have faced Inter Milan away at the San Siro for each of the last two league phase campaigns.

The Gunners lost 1-0 to Inter in November 2024, before beating the Nerazzurri 3-1 in January of this year.

It means Arsenal will definitely be drawn against one of Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Barcelona or Atletico Madrid away from home in Thursday's draw.

And just like Liverpool with Real Madrid, they can also be drawn against Inter at home.

Who qualifies for the knockout rounds?

The top eight sides in the league will qualify automatically for the round of 16, while teams finishing 25th or lower are eliminated and do not drop into the Europa League.

The teams finishing in ninth to 24th place compete in a two-legged knockout-phase play-off. Teams finishing between ninth and 16th are seeded, meaning they will face a team in 17th-24th with the return leg at home.

The eight clubs who win their knockout-phase play-off each meet one of the seeded top-eight finishers in the league-phase table for a place in the quarter-finals.

Champions League league-phase match dates and schedule

Matchday 1: September 8-10
Matchday 2: October 13/14
Matchday 3: October 20/21
Matchday 4: November 3/4
Matchday 5: November 24/25
Matchday 6: December 8/9
Matchday 7: January 19/20
Matchday 8: January 27

Champions League knockout-phase match dates and schedule

The draw for the two-legged knockout-phase play-offs is yet to be determined.

Knockout phase play-offs: February 16/17 and 23/24
Round of 16: March 9/10 and 16/17
Quarter-finals: April 6/7 and 13/14
Semi-finals: April 27/28 and May 4/5
Final: June 5

When and where is the final?

The final will take place at the Estadio Metropolitano in Madrid, Spain, on June 5 2027.

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