Champions League draw: Barcelona to face PSG and Man City

The draw for the league phase of the 2026–27 UEFA Champions League, Europe’s most prestigious club competition, has been held. The much-anticipated draw took place at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco at 10pm Bangladesh time on Thursday (August 27).

Defending champions Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) have been handed a difficult set of opponents in the 36-team league phase. They will host coach Luis Enrique’s former club Barcelona and travel to face Manchester City and Europa League winners Aston Villa. PSG will also visit Champions League newcomers Como, coached by Cesc Fabregas.

Since their historic 6–1 defeat to Barcelona in March 2017, PSG have won their last three matches at the Catalan club’s home ground, including a 2–1 victory in the league phase last October.

Last season’s finalists Arsenal also face a challenging schedule. Alongside record 15-time champions Real Madrid, they will take on German giants Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.

Manchester United are returning to the Champions League after a two-year absence and will face Bayern Munich in the league phase, bringing back memories of the historic 1999 final.

Meanwhile, Jose Mourinho, who has returned to Real Madrid as head coach, will face his former club Inter Milan. Mourinho joined Real Madrid after guiding Inter to the Champions League title in 2010.

Real Madrid will play two matches in London—against Arsenal and Shakhtar Donetsk. The Ukrainian champions, however, will play their home matches at Stamford Bridge.

Barcelona will host Manchester City and Aston Villa at home and will also travel to face Como. Their other league-phase opponent is Azerbaijani newcomers Sabah, meaning the Catalan giants will make a lengthy trip to Baku.

Liverpool have a relatively more manageable schedule, although they will travel to face Inter Milan and Fenerbahce. Atletico Madrid will return to Anfield, where Liverpool beat them 3–2 last September.

Atletico Madrid will face two Norwegian sides. They will travel inside the Arctic Circle to play Bodo/Glimt on an artificial pitch. Borussia Dortmund, Lille and newcomers LASK will also have to make the trip to the remote region, with one of the teams set to play there in the intense cold of January.

Four Teams to Make Champions League Debuts

Four teams will make their Champions League debuts this season: Italian side Como, Austria’s LASK, Norway’s Viking and Azerbaijani champions Sabah.

Como will play two matches in Spain, against Barcelona and Real Betis. At their picturesque lakeside stadium, they will host PSG and Manchester United.

Sabah’s opponents include Borussia Dortmund, Napoli and Slavia Prague. Their supporters will have to make two long trips to England to watch the team face Arsenal and Manchester United.

UEFA’s draw software assigned eight opponents to each team—four at home and four away. Each club was drawn against two opponents from each of the four seeding pots. The pots were determined by rankings based on performances in European competitions over the past five years. Teams from the same country could not be drawn against each other.

The first matches will be played from September 8 to 10, with the first six matchdays running through December. The league phase will resume in January, with the eighth and final matchday scheduled for January 27. Each team’s full fixture schedule will be announced on Saturday.

The top eight teams in the league-phase table will advance directly to the round of 16 in March. Teams finishing from ninth to 24th will enter the knockout play-offs in February, with the remaining eight round-of-16 places decided there. Teams finishing from 25th to 36th will be eliminated.

The 36 teams in this season’s competition will share approximately €2.5 billion ($2.9 billion) in prize money.

Pot 1 Opponents

Real Madrid: Inter Milan (home), Arsenal (away), PSV (home), Roma (away), RB Leipzig (home), Shakhtar Donetsk (away), LASK (home), AEK Athens (away).

Barcelona: Manchester City (home), PSG (away), Aston Villa (home), Sporting CP (away), Feyenoord (home), Galatasaray (away), Como (home), Sabah (away).

Bayern Munich: Arsenal (home), Atletico Madrid (away), Real Betis (home), Manchester United (away), Bodo/Glimt (home), Lille (away), Slavia Prague (home), Viking (away).

PSG: Barcelona (home), Manchester City (away), Roma (home), Aston Villa (away), Galatasaray (home), Villarreal (away), Slovan Bratislava (home), Como (away).

Arsenal: Real Madrid (home), Bayern Munich (away), Borussia Dortmund (home), Real Betis (away), Lille (home), Napoli (away), Sabah (home), Slavia Prague (away).

Liverpool: Atletico Madrid (home), Inter Milan (away), Porto (home), Club Brugge (away), Villarreal (home), Fenerbahce (away), Lens (home), LASK (away).

Inter Milan: Liverpool (home), Real Madrid (away), Club Brugge (home), Borussia Dortmund (away), Shakhtar Donetsk (home), Feyenoord (away), Stuttgart (home), Slovan Bratislava (away).

Atletico Madrid: Bayern Munich (home), Liverpool (away), Manchester United (home), PSV (away), Fenerbahce (home), Bodo/Glimt (away), Viking (home), Stuttgart (away).

League-Phase Fixtures
Matchday 1: September 8–10
Matchday 2: October 13–14
Matchday 3: October 20–21
Matchday 4: November 3–4
Matchday 5: November 24–25
Matchday 6: December 8–9
Matchday 7: January 19–20
Matchday 8: January 27
Knockout-Phase Fixtures
Play-offs: February 16–17 and 23–24
Round of 16: March 9–10 and 16–17
Quarter-finals: April 6–7 and 13–14
Semi-finals: April 27–28 and May 4–5
Final: June 5