Champions League 2026-27: When is the league phase draw and who is in each pot?
The 2026-27 Champions League league phase draw is scheduled for August 27 in Monaco, featuring 36 teams divided into four pots. The format includes eight matches per team, with qualification for the knockout stages determined by final league rankings.
Why it matters
The Champions League is a major global sporting event with significant economic implications for participating clubs.
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.
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.
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