Champions League 2026/27 League-Phase Draw: Arsenal Get Real Madrid and Bayern, Man City Draw PSG

The 2026/27 Champions League league-phase draw took place at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on Thursday, throwing up a set of blockbuster fixtures for England's five representatives.

Arsenal face two of the tournament's traditional heavyweights, drawn against Real Madrid and Bayern Munich among their eight opponents. Manchester City also get a glamour tie, paired with holders Paris Saint-Germain. Manchester United, Aston Villa and Liverpool make up the rest of England's contingent in the 36-team field, with Celtic missing out this year after a play-off exit to LASK.

Under the format introduced two seasons ago, each of the 36 clubs plays eight different opponents across a single league table, two from each of four seeding pots, rather than the old group-stage format. Every club plays four matches at home and four away. The league phase runs across eight matchdays, kicking off with matchday one on 8-10 September 2026 and concluding in late January 2027, before the top eight advance directly to the round of 16 and the rest head into a knockout play-off round.

With the pots finalised only after this week's play-off round, the draw brought together the last of the 36 qualifiers, including newcomers LASK and Sabah, who reached the league phase for the first time following dramatic play-off wins over Celtic and Hapoel Be'er Sheva respectively.