When is the Champions League draw and how does it work?
Arsenal, Man Utd , Liverpool, Man City and Aston Villa will all take part in the 2026/27 Champions League; Celtic need to win their qualifier against LASK to secure their place in the competition; draw for the league phase will take place in Monaco on Thursday
The league phase draw for the 2026/27 Champions League will take place on Thursday in Monaco and here is everything you need to know before it gets started.
A total of 36 teams will enter the competition at this stage after 29 qualified at the end of last season. The remaining seven places will be determined by the qualifiers.
In the new format, which is entering its third season since being implemented, teams now play fixtures against eight different teams - two teams from Pots 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Half of the eight league-phase matches are at home, with the other half away.
The draw is done by a supercomputer which automatically selects the eight opponents by one touch of a button.
While seven places via qualifiers are yet to be determined, 29 teams have been confirmed and their pots have been allocated and it is based on UEFA's club coefficient rankings, which reflects results in European competitions across a five-year period ending in 2025/26.
Back-to-back champions Paris Saint-Germain , Bayern Munich , Real Madrid , Liverpool , Manchester City , Inter Milan, Arsenal, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid are in Pot 1.
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