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

A total of 36 teams will compete in this stage, with 29 teams having qualified based on their performance last season, while the remaining seven places were filled through play-offs.

In this league phase:

• Each team will play against eight different opponents.
• Teams will have four home matches and four away matches.

The 36 teams will be divided into four pots according to their UEFA club coefficient rankings from the five-season period ending after the 2025-26 season. Each team will face:

• Two teams from each of the four pots
• Cannot compete against teams from their own country

A new rule announced by UEFA states that teams cannot host the same opponent in three consecutive league phases. Therefore, Liverpool will not host Real Madrid, and Arsenal will not play away against Inter Milan, although these matches may be drawn in reverse.

The stakes are high as the top eight teams will advance to the Champions League's round of 16. Teams ranked between ninth and 24th will enter the play-off knockout round, while those ranked from 25th to 36th will be eliminated after the league phase concludes.