The Champions League 2026/27 league stage draw takes place on Thursday evening in Nyon, with three Premier League clubs placed in Pot One.
Premier League clubs in Pot One
UEFA has confirmed the allocations for the draw, with five Premier League sides set to feature in this year's competition. The pots have been allocated based on clubs' five-year UEFA coefficients.
Champions Arsenal, who were beaten in last season's final by PSG, hold a place in Pot One. They are joined by rivals Liverpool and Manchester City. Liverpool only narrowly secured their place in the competition by finishing fifth last season, with the Premier League being awarded an additional spot owing to the division's UEFA coefficient. City finished runners-up behind Arsenal.
The three English sides are joined in Pot One by European champions PSG, along with Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.
Man Utd and Aston Villa in Pot Two
The remaining two Premier League clubs have been placed into Pot Two. Manchester United secured their return to the Champions League last season following an impressive late-season surge under Michael Carrick, though their coefficient saw them fall short of the top pot.
Aston Villa also find themselves in Pot Two, having not only clinched their Champions League berth through a fourth-placed finish, but also through their Europa League triumph. They are joined in Pot Two by several heavyweights including Borussia Dortmund, Roma, Porto and others.
Draw format and restrictions
Pot Three still contains several high-profile clubs such as Lille, Napoli and Galatasaray, while Stuttgart, Como and Lens feature amongst the familiar names in the final pot. Each side will face two opponents from every pot, playing one of those clubs at home and the other away, giving each team eight fixtures in total.
There are, however, certain restrictions already in place. Arsenal will be prohibited from facing Inter Milan away, while Liverpool cannot be paired with Real Madrid at home, due to a new UEFA regulation introduced this season that prevents clubs from contesting the same fixture in three successive years.
Once the league phase concludes, all sides will be ranked in a 36-team table, with the top eight sides progressing automatically to the last 16, while those finishing between ninth and 24th will enter the play-offs. Any club ranked below that threshold will be knocked out.
Champions League draw pots in full
Pot 1: Paris (FRA), Bayern München (GER), Real Madrid (ESP), Liverpool (ENG), Inter (ITA), Man City (ENG), Arsenal (ENG), Barcelona (ESP), Atleti (ESP).
Pot 2: B. Dortmund (GER), Roma (ITA), Sporting CP (POR), Aston Villa (ENG), Porto (POR), Man Utd (ENG), Club Brugge (BEL), Real Betis (ESP), PSV (NED).
Pot 3: Feyenoord (NED), Lille (FRA), Bodø/Glimt (NOR), Napoli (ITA), Leipzig (GER), Villarreal (ESP), Fenerbahçe (TUR), Shakhtar (UKR), Galatasaray (TUR).
Pot 4: Slavia Praha (CZE), S. Bratislava (SVK), Stuttgart (GER), AEK Athens (GRE), LASK (AUT), Como (ITA), Lens (FRA), Viking (NOR), Sabah (AZE).
