Five English clubs learn their fate as 2026/27 Champions League draw set for Monaco

The 2026/27 UEFA Champions League league phase draw is scheduled for Monaco on Thursday, 27 August at 5pm BST, with five English clubs — Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Aston Villa and Liverpool — already confirmed among the 36 participants. Celtic could make it six British sides if they complete their play-off tie against LASK, having won the first leg 3-0.

The draw comes three months after PSG retained their title on penalties against Arsenal in Budapest, and will determine the eight league phase fixtures each club must navigate before the knockout rounds begin.

Each team is assigned to one of four pots. Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal occupy pot one alongside PSG, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. Aston Villa and Manchester United are seeded in pot two, joined by Borussia Dortmund, Roma, Sporting, Porto, Club Brugge, PSV Eindhoven and Real Betis.

Pot three features Feyenoord, Lille, Napoli, RB Leipzig, Villarreal, Shakhtar Donetsk, Galatasaray and the winner of Fenerbahce vs Lyon. Several play-off winners will slot into pot three or four, including the Celtic vs LASK victor, while pot four contains VfB Stuttgart, Como, Lens and a number of further play-off qualifiers.

Every team will face two opponents from each pot — half of those matches at home, half away. The top eight sides at the end of the league phase advance directly to the last 16, while teams finishing ninth to 24th enter a knockout-phase play-off. Those finishing 25th or lower are eliminated entirely, with no route into the Europa League.

The league phase runs from September through to late January, with matchdays spread across eight rounds. The final is scheduled for 5 June at the Estadio Metropolitano in Madrid.