The next Champions League journey begins on Thursday, when the 36 qualifiers learn the full shape of their league-phase schedules. Each club will face eight different opponents, and the draw will set the tone for an entire European campaign.
Paris Saint-Germain enter as the reigning champions after beating Arsenal in Budapest in May, which gives the rest of the field one clear mission: find a way to stop them from repeating. With the revamped format still settling in, the draw now matters as much for momentum as it does for prestige.
When the draw takes place
The league-phase draw is scheduled for Thursday, August 27, with the ceremony beginning at 5 p.m. BST. For clubs, supporters, and analysts alike, that hour will shape travel plans, fixture talk, and early predictions for months ahead.
How the new system works
The Champions League no longer uses the old four-team group setup. Instead, the competition now follows a league phase in which every club receives a distinct set of eight fixtures drawn from four pots.
The process is designed to give each side two opponents from each pot while keeping the schedule balanced. That means no two teams leave the draw with the same route, and the mix of home and away games becomes part of the strategy almost immediately.
There is one major safeguard built into the process: clubs cannot be paired with another team from their own country. Beyond that, the draw can produce wildly different paths, from favorable slates to brutal stretches against elite opposition.
The teams divided into the four pots
The 36 clubs are split into four pots based on European ranking, with each pot carrying its own level of difficulty. Pot 1 brings the heaviest hitters, while Pot 4 includes several underdogs and qualification survivors who will still fancy their chances of causing trouble.
- Pot 1: Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Manchester City, Arsenal, Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid.
- Pot 2: Borussia Dortmund, Roma, Sporting, Aston Villa, Porto, Manchester United, Club Brugge, Real Betis, and PSV Eindhoven.
- Pot 3: Feyenoord, Lille, Bodo/Glimt, Napoli, RB Leipzig, Villarreal, Shakhtar Donetsk, Galatasaray, and the winner of Fenerbahce versus Lyon.
- Pot 4: 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.
Why Thursday matters so much
This draw is more than a formal step before kickoff. It is the first real test of ambition, because the league phase gives every contender a unique road to the knockout rounds. A strong draw can open the door to confidence and early points, while a difficult one can demand sharpness from the first matchday.
With eight games to come and no repeat opponents, the league phase rewards consistency, adaptability, and depth. By Thursday evening, every club will know whether its path looks manageable, demanding, or somewhere in between.