Champions League Draw to Take Place at 0:00 on the 28th; Premier League Giants and European Powerhouses Challenge Paris

The 2026-27 UEFA Champions League is set to resume, marking the 72nd edition of the competition in history, the 35th edition since the European Cup was renamed the Champions League, and the third edition under the league-phase (Swiss system) format.

The draw ceremony will take place at 0:00 Beijing time on August 28 at the Grimaldi Forum, the UEFA headquarters venue in Monaco.

The 36 teams participating in this season's Champions League include 29 teams directly qualified for the main competition and seven final winners from the qualifying rounds. The 29 directly qualified teams are as follows:

Arsenal, Villa, Atletico Madrid, Dortmund, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Club Brugge, Como, Feyenoord, Galatasaray, Inter Milan, Leipzig, Lens, Lille, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Napoli, Paris (defending champions), Porto, PSV Eindhoven, Real Betis, Real Madrid, Roma, Shakhtar Donetsk, Slavia Prague, Sporting CP, Stuttgart, Villarreal

Among the seven teams advancing through qualifying rounds, three teams have already secured their places: Sabah Baku, LASK Linz and Bodo/Glimt. The remaining four qualification spots will be decided among AEK Athens, Levski Sofia, Viking, Dinamo Zagreb, Celje, Slovan Bratislava, Lyon and Fenerbahce.

The draw will determine the eight league-phase opponents for the 36 teams in the main competition. The new season schedule will be announced no later than Saturday, August 29 local time. The first round of the 2026-27 Champions League league phase will be played between September 8 and 10 local time, while the second and third rounds will take place in October.

In addition, the Europa League and Europa Conference League draw ceremonies will be held at 19:00 Beijing time on August 28.