With football’s domestic season getting underway, the 2026-27 season of the UEFA Champions League is taking shape and it will mark the 72nd edition of Europe’s prestigious club tournament. With all the qualifying rounds done and dusted, the schedule, time draw and pot distributions are officially complete for the league phase draw.

On Wednesday, August 26, the second leg of the final playoff round for qualification to the UEFA Champions League group stage concluded. In the four decisive fixtures, Olympique Lyon suffered a 2-1 defeat to Fenerbahce, who progressed to the group stage with a 3-2 aggregate victory. AEK Athens delivered a commanding 4-0 victory over Levski Sofia in Athens. Viking FK triumphed over Dinamo Zagreb with a 3-1 win, securing a 5-3 aggregate result. Meanwhile, Slovan Bratislava clinched a dramatic extra-time victory against Celje. The four advancing teams secured the last available spots, finalizing the 36-team lineup for the forthcoming season. With the final set for June 5, 2027, at Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid, the only task remaining is the draw to determine each club’s journey through the competition.

UEFA Champions League 2026-27: Teams participating and pot distribution

The 36 participating teams have been divided into four pots of nine teams, according to their UEFA club coefficient rankings at the start of the season. Reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain, who won their second consecutive title earlier this year by defeating Arsenal, have automatically taken the top overall seed in Pot 1. Below are the official composition of the four pots:

• Pot 1: PSG, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Manchester City, Inter Milan, Arsenal, FC Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid.
• Pot 2: Borussia Dortmund, AS Roma, Sporting CP, Aston Villa, Porto, Manchester United, Club Brugge, Real Betis, and PSV Eindhoven.
• Pot 3: Feyenoord, Lille, Napoli, RB Leipzig, Villarreal, Shakhtar Donetsk, Galatasaray, Bodo/Glimt, and Fenerbahce.
• Pot 4: Slavia Prague, Stuttgart, Como 1907, RC Lens, LASK, Sabah, AEK, Viking, and Slovan Bratislava.

When and where is the Champions League draw?

Meanwhile, the draw for the 2026-27 Champions League will take place on August 27, Thursday in Monaco at 6:00 PM local time. UEFA executives and some of the other legendary figures will grace the occasion at the Grimaldi Forum to decide the matchup pairings.

Nevertheless, the fixtures’ dates and times will be revealed only a few days after the draw. The league phase kicks off on September 8, 2026 and will continue until January 27, 2027.

• Matchday 1: September 8-10, 2026
• Matchday 2: October 13-14, 2026
• Matchday 3: October 20-21, 2026
• Matchday 4: November 3-4, 2026
• Matchday 5: November 24-25, 2026
• Matchday 6: December 8-9, 2026
• Matchday 7: January 19-20, 2027
• Matchday 8: January 27, 2027

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