The UEFA Champions League league-phase draw features 36 clubs competing in the third season of the tournament’s ‘Swiss League’ format, according to The New York Times. The draw takes place on Thursday, August 27, with the initial league phase kicking off on Tuesday, September 8, as reported by The Athletic.
UEFA Champions League 2026-27 Draw Overview
Under the tournament format, all 36 teams are placed into a single giant table ranking teams from 1 to 36. Each side plays eight matches—four at home and four away. The 36 clubs are divided into four pots of nine based on their UEFA club coefficient rankings, determined by performance over the past five years, with Paris Saint-Germain automatically placed in Pot 1 as last season’s title winners. During the draw, every team is drawn to play a match against two teams from each of the four pots. No sides from the same country can meet in this initial stage.
Pot Placements and English Club Representation
English clubs Arsenal, Liverpool, and Manchester City are positioned in Pot 1 alongside Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, and Inter, according to UEFA.com. Manchester United and last season’s Europa League winners Aston Villa are placed in Pot 2, making them the only English teams not in Pot 1.
Pot 4 contains Champions League debutants Como from Italy, Sabah from Azerbaijan, LASK from Austria, and Viking from Norway.
The New Rule Affecting Arsenal and Liverpool
A new regulation introduced for the 2026-27 season places further restrictions on potential opponents during the draw. Paragraph 16.03 of last season’s regulations dictates that two clubs cannot play the same individual league-phase fixture for three consecutive seasons.
The UEFA Club Competitions Committee has determined an additional condition that may be applicable to the UEFA Champions League draw for the 2026-27 season, deciding that any individual fixture between the same two teams may not be repeated in the same competition with the same home team for three consecutive seasons,
the regulation states.
This rule directly affects English clubs Arsenal and Liverpool. Specifically, Arsenal have met Inter at Milan’s San Siro in the league phase in each of the past two seasons—resulting in a 1-0 loss in November 2024 and a 3-1 victory in January 2025.
Tournament Schedule and Progression
The fixture list with match dates and kick-off times is scheduled to be communicated no later than Saturday, August 29. The league phase matches are scheduled across eight matchdays:
- 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
Following the league phase, a total of 24 teams qualify for the knockout stage. The top eight teams in the league-phase table earn a bye directly to the Round of 16, while teams finishing 9th through 24th enter the knockout play-off round. Teams finishing in the bottom 12 are eliminated entirely from the competition. The 2026-27 final will be played in June at the Metropolitano stadium in Madrid.
