The draw for the UEFA Champions League – how does it work?

The UEFA Champions League group stage will begin on September 8, but first, UEFA must organize the draw for the 36 teams involved. The draw, scheduled for Thursday, August 27 at 5:00 PM (French time), will determine each club's opponents for the league phase.

 

A new format with 36 teams

For the 2025-2026 season, 36 clubs will participate in the league phase, featuring a single comprehensive ranking. Each team will face eight different opponents, drawn at random. At the end of these matches, the top eight teams will qualify directly for the Round of 16, while teams ranked between 9th and 24th will compete in a two-legged playoff. The bottom twelve teams will be eliminated. The clubs are divided into four pots of nine teams each, based on their UEFA coefficient, which reflects their recent European performances. Teams from the same country cannot face each other in this league phase. The pots are as follows: Pot 1: PSG, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Barcelona, Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Liverpool, Borussia Dortmund Pot 2: Sporting, Feyenoord, Roma, Porto, PSV, Club Brugge, Real Betis, Manchester United, Shakhtar Pot 3: Lille, Lens, Galatasaray, Villarreal, Slavia Prague or TBD, Aston Villa, Inter, Napoli, TBD Pot 4: Como, Stuttgart, TBD (Levski Sofia or AEK), TBD (Slovan Bratislava or Celje), TBD (Hapoel Be'er-Sheva or Sabah), TBD (Fenerbahce or Lyon), TBD, TBD, TBD For example, Liverpool could face two teams from Pot 1, two from Pot 2, two from Pot 3, and two from Pot 4.

How opponents are assigned

The draw begins with Pot 1 and proceeds down to Pot 4. The balls drawn do not directly determine the opponents but instead establish the order in which each team will play its eight matches. UEFA’s computer then assigns each club its full set of eight fixtures at once. The exact dates for each match will be set in the days following the draw. This system ensures that each team will know its entire schedule as soon as the process is complete.

Qualification playoffs

Eight additional spots have been allocated through two-legged playoff matches. The winners of these ties join the 28 already qualified clubs. Here are the playoff fixtures: Levski Sofia vs. AEK Athens Celtic vs. LASK Dinamo Zagreb vs. Viking Slovan Bratislava vs. Celje Hapoel Be'er-Sheva vs. Sabah Fenerbahce vs. Lyon NEC vs. Bodo/Glimt The 2027 UEFA Champions League final will be held at the Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid at the end of the season.