With the qualifying round now wrapped up, the stage is set for the UEFA Champions League 2026/27 season, featuring 36 clubs ready to compete at the highest level. The draw for the tournament is scheduled for Thursday, 27 August, at 18:00 CET at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. Meghna Sharan from Tribuna.com has laid out the complete pots and the draw regulations.
Group Stage Draw Pots
- Pot 1: PSG, 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, Fenerbahce, Shakhtar Donetsk, Galatasaray.
- Pot 4: Slavia Prague, Slovan Bratislava, Stuttgart, AEK, LASK, Como, Lens, Viking FK, Sabah.
Tournament Format and Key Dates
This season's format will see a Swiss system in operation, featuring a single league table of 36 clubs. Each team will play eight matches against eight different opponents – four home and four away – facing two teams from each pot (including their own).
The opening matches are set to take place from 8-10 September 2026, with the final eighth round scheduled for 27 January 2027. The top eight teams will qualify directly for the round of 16. Teams finishing 9th to 24th will face off in playoff matches for a chance to progress to the knockout stages, while clubs ranked 25th and below will conclude their European campaigns.
The full calendar, complete with exact match dates and kick-off times, will be published by UEFA no later than Saturday, 29 August.
