Overview
- The league‑phase draw, held Thursday in Monaco, assigned each of the 36 clubs eight opponents — two from each of the four seeding pots — with one home and one away game against each drawn opponent.
- UEFA ran a hybrid process that combined a physical ceremony with software that enforces country‑protection, limits on repeat fixtures and home/away allocations to meet the competition rules.
- The draw produced several headline matchups, including Paris Saint‑Germain vs Manchester City, Real Madrid vs Arsenal and Barcelona vs PSG, shaping high‑profile early encounters for top seeds.
- Pot assignments were set by club coefficients with Pot 1 containing PSG, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Inter, Manchester City, Arsenal, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid, and the field includes debutants such as Sabah, LASK, Viking and Como.
- UEFA confirmed the league phase runs from Sept. 8 to Jan. 27 with the final on June 5, 2027 in Madrid; the top eight advance directly to the last 16, teams 9–24 enter two‑legged play‑offs, teams 25–36 are eliminated, and UEFA will publish exact dates and kick‑off times by Saturday.