Europe’s Biggest Night: Draw Day Breakdown

The wait is nearly finished. On Thursday, August 27, the 36 clubs in the Champions League league phase will learn their eight opponents and begin mapping the road ahead. For some, the reveal will feel manageable. For others, it could turn into a brutal stretch of elite opposition.

Paris Saint-Germain enter as the reigning champions after their win over Arsenal in Budapest in May, and every team in the field will be hoping to avoid a direct path into that kind of fire. The new format has made the draw feel sharper, stranger, and far more important than the old group-stage setup.

Instead of familiar four-team groups, clubs now face a league phase that creates unique schedules for everyone involved. That change has added fresh tension to the ceremony and made Thursday’s draw one of the key moments of the European season.

When the draw starts

The league phase draw begins on Thursday, August 27, at 5 p.m. BST. Once the process starts, each club will be assigned eight opponents, with the full fixture picture emerging as the pots are worked through.

Who is in the mix

The 36 teams are spread across four pots based on ranking and qualification path. Pot 1 includes Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Manchester City, Arsenal, Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid.

Pot 2 features Borussia Dortmund, Roma, Sporting, Aston Villa, Porto, Manchester United, Club Brugge, Real Betis, and PSV Eindhoven. Pot 3 contains Feyenoord, Lille, Bodo/Glimt, Napoli, RB Leipzig, Villarreal, Shakhtar Donetsk, Galatasaray, and the winner of Fenerbahce versus Lyon.

Pot 4 is made up of the winner of Dinamo Zagreb versus Viking, the winner of Slovan Bratislava versus Celje, Slavia Prague, VfB Stuttgart, LASK, the winner of Levski Sofia versus AEK Athens, Como, Lens, and Sabah.

How the format works

This draw is not about building a small group and calling it a day. Under the Swiss-style league phase, every team gets eight different opponents, with two assigned from each pot. That structure guarantees variety and removes the repeat-match feel that defined the old setup.

There is one major restriction: teams cannot be drawn against clubs from their own country. Beyond that, the process keeps moving until every side has a full set of eight fixtures. The result is a schedule that should produce more intrigue, more variety, and more chances for surprise.

By the end of Thursday’s ceremony, every club will know whether it has a favorable route, a punishing slate, or something in between. For supporters, it is the first real clue about how difficult the campaign might become.