The league phase draw for the 2026-27 Champions League is set to occur on Thursday, August 27, at 17:00 BST in Monaco. A total of 36 teams will compete at this stage of the tournament, with 29 teams having secured their spots following last season. The final seven places will be filled by teams qualifying next week.

In the league phase, each team will play eight opponents once, divided into four home and four away matches.

For the upcoming draw, the teams will be divided into four pots, ranked from one to four based on their Uefa club coefficient ranking calculated over a five-season period concluding in 2025-26.

Each team will compete against two teams from each pot, while teams from the same nation cannot face each other in the league phase.

The top eight finishers will move on to the round of 16 in the Champions League. Teams finishing between ninth and 24th will enter the play-off knockout round, while those ranked from 25th to 36th will be eliminated after this phase.

Advertisement

Current Pot Assignments

As the remaining spots for the league phase of the 2026-27 Champions League are still being decided, the other 29 teams have been confirmed, and most know their pot assignments.

The top two pots contain nine confirmed teams each.

Representing the Premier League, Liverpool, Manchester City, and Arsenal appear in pot one alongside Paris St-Germain, who have won the Champions League for the past two seasons, along with Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid.

Aston Villa and Manchester United return to the Champions League after missing last season, landing them in pot two along with Borussia Dortmund, Roma, Sporting, Porto, Club Brugge, Real Betis, and PSV Eindhoven.

Advertisement

With several places still available, the teams vying for pots three and four face some uncertainty regarding their position.

Feyenoord, Lille, Napoli, RB Leipzig, Villarreal, Shakhtar Donetsk, and Galatasaray have secured positions in pot three.

The winner of the upcoming knockout match between Fenerbahce and Lyon will also secure a spot in pot three.

VfB Stuttgart, Como, and Lens will enter in pot four. The winners of qualifying matches, including Levski Sofia and AEK Athens, as well as Slovan Bratislava and Celje, and Hapoel Be’er Sheva versus Sabah, will join them in that pot.

Advertisement

The final four spots will be contested by various ties involving NEC Nijmegen and Bodo/Glimt, Dinamo Zagreb and Viking, Celtic and LASK, along with Dynamo Kyiv.

If Bodo/Glimt defeats NEC Nijmegen, they will take the last spot in pot three. Consequently, Dynamo Kyiv and the winners of the other two qualifying matches will enter pot four. Conversely, if NEC Nijmegen wins, Dinamo Zagreb might be able to secure a spot in pot three depending on their performance and the result of the Bodo/Glimt match against NEC Nijmegen.

While Celtic and Dynamo Kyiv share identical club coefficient ratings, Celtic’s scoring surpassed Dynamo Kyiv’s during the 2024-25 season. Should Celtic beat LASK and Bodo/Glimt alongside Dinamo Zagreb lose, they will claim the last position in pot three.

Furthermore, if all three teams—Bodo/Glimt, Dinamo Zagreb, and Celtic—end in defeat, the last place in pot four will be awarded to Dynamo Kyiv.

Pot Breakdown

Pot 1

• Manchester City (England)

Pot 2

• Borussia Dortmund (Germany)

• Manchester United (England)

Pot 3

• Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine)

• Winner of Fenerbahce (Turkey) vs Lyon (France)

Pot 3 or 4

• Winner of NEC Nijmegen (Netherlands) vs Bodo/Glimt (Norway)

• Winner of Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia) vs Viking (Norway)

• Slavia Prague (Czech Republic)

Pot 4

• Winner of Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia) vs Celje (Slovenia)

• Winner of Levski Sofia (Bulgaria) vs AEK Athens (Greece)

• Winner of Hapoel Be’er Sheva (Israel) vs Sabah (Azerbaijan)

This article is the latest from BBC Sport’s Ask Me Anything team.

More questions answered…

The league phase draw for the 2026-27 Champions League campaign takes place on Thursday, 27 August at 17:00 BST in Monaco.

A total of 36 teams will enter that stage of the competition and while 29 teams qualified at the end of last season, the remaining seven places are decided by qualifiers that will conclude next week.

Advertisement

In the league phase, each team will face eight different teams once, with four home matches and four away matches.

For the draw, the 36 teams will be placed into four pots with one being the highest-ranked and four being the lowest. The pot placements are based on the club’s Uefa club coefficient ranking from the five-season period ending at the conclusion of 2025-26.

Each team will face two teams from each of the four pots and cannot face a team from the same country as themselves.

The teams who finish in the top eight will qualify for the Champions League’s round of 16. Those between ninth and 24th will enter the play-off knockout round. The 12 teams ranked between 25th and 36th will exit the competition when the league phase is concluded.

Advertisement

Who is in each pot?

While the final seven spots in the league phase of the 2026-27 Champions League are yet to be decided, the other 29 teams are confirmed. The majority of those 29 already know which pot they will be in.

The nine teams in each of the first two pots are confirmed.

Premier League clubs Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal all feature in pot one alongside back-to-back Champions League winners Paris St-Germain, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.

Aston Villa and Manchester United both return to the Champions League this season after not featuring last term. They are in pot two with Borussia Dortmund, Roma, Sporting, Porto, Club Brugge, Real Betis and PSV Eindhoven.

Advertisement

With the remaining places up for grabs split across pots three and four, some teams do still have uncertainty as to which pot they could end up in.

Feyenoord, Lille, Napoli, RB Leipzig, Villarreal, Shakhtar Donetsk and Galatasaray are all guaranteed to enter the draw in pot three.

The winners of the play-off knockout round match between Fenerbahce and Lyon are also guaranteed to enter pot three.

VfB Stuttgart, Como and Lens are all guaranteed to enter in pot four. The winners of the qualifying ties between Levski Sofia and AEK Athens, Slovan Bratislava and Celje, and Hapoel Be’er Sheva and Sabah, will follow them into that pot.

Advertisement

The final four spots are contested between the ties involving NEC Nijmegen and Bodo/Glimt, Dinamo Zagreb and Viking, Celtic and LASK, as well as Dynamo Kyiv.

Bodo/Glimt will take the one spot remaining in pot three, should they beat NEC Nijmegen. If that happens, Dynamo Kyiv and the winners of the other two qualifying ties will all enter the draw in pot four.

If NEC Nijmegen win, Dinamo Zagreb would have the next best club coefficient rating. For them to enter pot three, they need Bodo/Glimt to lose and for themselves to get past Viking.

While Celtic and Dynamo Kyiv are level on their five-year and last season’s club coefficient ratings, Celtic scored more ratings points than Dynamo Kyiv in the 2024-25 term. If Celtic beat LASK and Bodo/Glimt and Dinamo Zagreb both lose, they will take the final pot three spot.

Advertisement

If Bodo/Glimt, Dinamo Zagreb and Celtic all lose, the final pot four place will go to Dynamo Kyiv.

Which team is in each pot?

Pot 1

• Manchester City (England)

Pot 2

• Borussia Dortmund (Germany)

• Manchester United (England)

Pot 3

• Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine)

• Winner of Fenerbahce (Turkey) vs Lyon (France)

Pot 3 or 4

• Winner of NEC Nijmegen (Netherlands) vs Bodo/Glimt (Norway)

• Winner of Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia) vs Viking (Norway)

• Slavia Prague (Czech Republic)

Pot 4

• Winner of Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia) vs Celje (Slovenia)

• Winner of Levski Sofia (Bulgaria) vs AEK Athens (Greece)

• Winner of Hapoel Be’er Sheva (Israel) vs Sabah (Azerbaijan)

This article is the latest from BBC Sport’s Ask Me Anything team.

More questions answered…