Twenty-nine teams qualified for the league phase through their domestic finishes last season, with the remaining seven joining through the play-offs. The final places were confirmed on Wednesday night when AEK Athens, Slovan Bratislava, Fenerbahce and Viking joined earlier qualifiers LASK, Sabah and Bodo/Glimt.
The 36 teams are divided into four pots of nine, seeded by UEFA club coefficient across the five seasons ending in 2025/26. As holders, Paris Saint-Germain are automatically placed top of pot one.
Each club is drawn two opponents from each pot and plays four matches at home and four away. No club can face a team from its own country, and no club can be drawn against more than two teams from any single other nation.
UEFA has introduced a new condition for this season: the same fixture, with the same team at home, cannot be staged for three consecutive campaigns. As a result, Real Madrid cannot be drawn away at Liverpool, having lost at Anfield in each of the last two seasons, and Arsenal cannot be drawn away at Inter, having played at the San Siro in both of the last two campaigns. Both fixtures can still be drawn the other way around.
The teams that finish in the top eight of the league phase qualify directly for the round of 16. Those between ninth and 24th enter the knockout play-off round. The 12 teams ranked 25th to 36th are eliminated once the league phase concludes. There are 144 matches in total, running from September to late January.
Paris Saint-Germain enter as back-to-back winners, having beaten Inter 5-0 in the 2025 final and Arsenal on penalties in the 2026 final in Budapest. Only Real Madrid, between 2016 and 2018, have won three Champions League titles in a row in the current era of the competition.
Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal are in pot one alongside Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Inter, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. Manchester United and Europa League winners Aston Villa both return to the competition after a season away and are in pot two. Como are the only debutants in this season's draw.
The full fixture list, with dates and kick-off times, will be confirmed no later than Saturday, August 29th.
Who is in each pot?
Pot 1
Paris Saint-Germain (France)
Bayern Munich (Germany)
Real Madrid (Spain)
Liverpool (England)
Inter Milan (Italy)
Manchester City (England)
Arsenal (England)
Barcelona (Spain)
Atletico Madrid (Spain)
Pot 2
Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
Roma (Italy)
Sporting CP (Portugal)
Aston Villa (England)
Porto (Portugal)
Manchester United (England)
Club Brugge (Belgium)
Real Betis (Spain)
PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands)
Pot 3
Feyenoord (Netherlands)
Lille (France)
Bodo/Glimt (Norway)
Napoli (Italy)
RB Leipzig (Germany)
Villarreal (Spain)
Fenerbahce (Turkey)
Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine)
Galatasaray (Turkey)
Pot 4
Slavia Prague (Czech Republic)
Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia)
VfB Stuttgart (Germany)
AEK Athens (Greece)
LASK (Austria)
Como (Italy)
Lens (France)
Viking (Norway)
Sabah (Azerbaijan)
When are the key dates?
League phase draw: Thursday, August 27th 2026, 17:00 BST
Matchday 1: September 8th to 10th 2026
Matchday 2: October 13th to 14th 2026
Matchday 3: October 20th to 21st 2026
Matchday 4: November 3rd to 4th 2026
Matchday 5: November 24th to 25th 2026
Matchday 6: December 8th to 9th 2026
Matchday 7: January 19th to 20th 2027
Matchday 8: January 27th 2027
Knockout play-offs: February 16th to 17th and 23rd to 24th 2027
Round of 16: March 9th to 10th and 16th to 17th 2027
Quarter-finals: April 6th to 7th and 13th to 14th 2027
Semi-finals: April 27th to 28th and May 4th to 5th 2027
Final: Saturday, June 5th 2027, Madrid
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