2026-27 Champions League Draw: Date, Time and How the League Phase Works
- The 2026–27 UEFA Champions League league phase draw will take place on Thursday, August 27, 2026.
- Thirty-six clubs participate in the single league phase, moving away from the traditional group stage structure.
- England leads all nations with six Premier League clubs securing qualification for the league phase.
The 2026–27 UEFA Champions League league phase draw will take place on Thursday, August 27, 2026. The draw ceremony will be held at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, while other reports note Monaco as the host location for the proceedings. Action gets underway at 5 p.m. BST, which corresponds to 12 p.m. ET, 9 a.m. PT, and 6 p.m. CEST.
Format and Seeding of the 36-Team League Phase
Thirty-six clubs participate in the single league phase, moving away from the traditional group stage structure. Every participating team is assigned to one of four pots, with Pot 1 featuring the title holders alongside the eight highest-ranked qualified clubs. Seeding for the remaining pots is determined by UEFA club coefficient once qualifying play-offs conclude. Each club plays eight matches against eight different opponents—two from each of the four pots—with four fixtures played at home and four away. The entire field competes within a single combined standings table. At the conclusion of the league phase, the top eight finishers automatically advance to the round of 16. Teams finishing from ninth to 24th enter a two-legged knockout play-off round, while clubs placing 25th through 36th are eliminated from European competition entirely without transferring to the Europa League.
Confirmed Qualifiers and National Representation
England leads all nations with six Premier League clubs securing qualification for the league phase. Spain follows with five clubs, while Germany, Italy, and France each send four representatives. Confirmed participants include holders Paris Saint-Germain from France, alongside English sides Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United, and Aston Villa. Spain’s representation features Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, Real Betis, and Villarreal. German clubs Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig, Stuttgart, and Borussia Dortmund are locked in, alongside Italian participants Napoli, Inter, Roma, and debutants Como. France is represented by Paris Saint-Germain, Lens, and Lille. Additional qualifiers include PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord from the Netherlands, Sporting CP and Porto from Portugal, Galatasaray from Türkiye, Slavia Prague from Czechia, Club Brugge from Belgium, and Shakhtar Donetsk from Ukraine. The final six spots are determined through qualifying playoffs concluding in August 2026.
Matchday Schedule and the Road to the Final
Matchday 1 of the league phase runs from September 8 to September 10, 2026, starting a week earlier than the previous season. The schedule features an extended international break between the first two matchdays before settling into regular cadence. The eight gameweeks conclude with the final two rounds taking place in the new year, culminating on Matchday 8 on January 27, 2027. Knockout play-offs are scheduled for February 16–17 and February 23–24, 2027, followed by the round of 16 in March, quarter-finals in April, and semi-finals stretching from late April into early May. The single-match final takes place on June 5, 2027, at the Estadio Metropolitano in Madrid.