Champions League draw: How to watch, the pots, and how it works | OneFootball

The draw for the league phase of the 2026/27 Champions League takes place in Monaco on Thursday, August 27 at 5pm BST.

A total of 36 teams will compete in the league phase, with 29 having qualified through their domestic league positions last season and the remaining seven places decided through the qualifying play-offs.

The five English representatives are Liverpool, Manchester City, Arsenal, Aston Villa and Manchester United, with the Premier League sides spread across the competition’s four pots.

How does the Champions League draw work?

The 36 teams are split into four pots of nine based on UEFA’s five-year club coefficient rankings at the end of the 2025/26 season.

Each club will be drawn against eight different opponents, playing two teams from each of the four pots.

Teams will play four matches at home and four away, while clubs cannot be drawn against another side from their own country.

UEFA has also introduced a new restriction for this season, with teams unable to host the same opponent in three successive league phases.

That means Liverpool cannot be drawn to face Real Madrid at Anfield, while Arsenal cannot be drawn away to Inter Milan. Both fixtures could, however, be drawn with the venues reversed.

Who is in each pot?

Pot 1

Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Manchester City, Arsenal, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid.

Pot 2

Borussia Dortmund, Roma, Sporting, Aston Villa, Porto, Manchester United, Club Brugge, Real Betis, PSV Eindhoven.

Pot 3

Feyenoord, Lille, Bodo/Glimt, Napoli, RB Leipzig, Villarreal, Shakhtar Donetsk, Galatasaray, Fenerbahce.

Pot 4

Viking, Slovan Bratislava, Slavia Prague, VfB Stuttgart, LASK, AEK Athens, Como, Lens, Sabah.

How to watch

TNT Sports 1 will broadcast the draw live. The draw will be streamed live on the UEFA.com website, as well as on TNT Sports’ YouTube channel.