The 2026–27 UEFA Champions League league phase began on 8 September 2026 and will end on 27 January 2027. A total of 36 teams are competing in the league phase to decide the 24 places in the knockout phase of the 2026–27 UEFA Champions League.
Real Betis made their first appearance in the Champions League since the 2005–06 season. Como, LASK, Sabah and Viking made their debut appearances in the league phase/group stage. For the first season since 1999–2000, Norway has two clubs in the Champions League main stage. Additionally, two Turkish sides qualified for the main phase for the first time since the 2007–08 season. The Greek champions, AEK Athens, return to the UEFA Champions League after an eight-year absence.
A total of 16 national associations are being represented in the league phase.
Format Each team will play eight matches, four at home and four away, against eight different opponents, with all 36 teams ranked in a single league table. Teams were separated into four pots based on their 2026 UEFA club coefficients, and each team will play two teams from each of the four pots – one at home and one away. The top eight teams in the standings will receive a bye directly to the round of 16. The teams ranked from 9th to 24th will contest the knockout phase play-offs, with the teams ranked from 9th to 16th seeded for the draw while teams ranked 17th to 24th are not. Teams ranked from 25th to 36th will be eliminated from European competition.
Tiebreakers Teams will be ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss). If two or more teams are equal on points upon completion of the league phase, the following tiebreaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine their rankings:
While the league phase was in progress, teams were ranked according to criteria 1–5 only, and if still tied, were given equal ranking and sorted alphabetically. Criteria 6–10 were only used after the final matches took place. Goal difference; Goals scored; Away goals scored; Wins; Away wins; Higher number of points obtained collectively by league phase opponents; Superior collective goal difference of league phase opponents; Higher number of goals scored collectively by league phase opponents; Lower disciplinary points total (direct red card or expulsion for two yellow cards in one match = 3 points, yellow card = 1 point); UEFA club coefficient.
Teams and seeding The 36 teams were divided into four pots of nine teams each, with the Champions League title holders automatically placed as the top seed of pot 1. All remaining teams were allocated to pots based on their 2026 UEFA club coefficients. The participants include: 29 teams which entered at this stage 7 winners of the play-off round (5 from the Champions Path, 2 from the League Path)
Key to coloursTeams ranked 1 to 8 advance to the round of 16 as a seeded teamTeams ranked 9 to 16 advance to the knockout phase play-offs as a seeded teamTeams ranked 17 to 24 advance to the knockout phase play-offs as an unseeded team
+Pot 1TeamNotes Paris Saint-Germain 132.000 Bayern Munich 147.500 Real Madrid 144.500 Liverpool 130.000 Inter Milan 127.000 Manchester City 125.500 Arsenal 119.000 Barcelona 113.250 Atlético Madrid 104.750+Pot 2TeamNotes Borussia Dortmund 100.750 Roma 97.750 Sporting CP 84.000 Aston Villa 83.000 Porto 80.750 Manchester United 76.500 Club Brugge 75.250 Real Betis 74.500 PSV Eindhoven 71.250+Pot 3TeamNotes Feyenoord 71.000 Lille 68.750 Bodø/Glimt 64.000 Napoli 63.000 RB Leipzig 61.000 Villarreal 59.000 Fenerbahçe 57.750 Shakhtar Donetsk 56.250 Galatasaray 53.500+Pot 4TeamNotes Slavia Prague 44.000 Slovan Bratislava 36.000 VfB Stuttgart 27.500 AEK Athens 24.000 LASK 21.000 Como 19.989 Lens 16.699 Viking 8.247 Sabah 6.000
Notes
Draw The draw for the league phase pairings was held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on 27 August 2026, with Thierry Henry, the UEFA President's Awardee, and David Villa as drawing guests.
+ League phase opponents by club Club Pot 1 opponents Pot 2 opponents Pot 3 opponents Pot 4 opponents Home Away Home Away Home Away Home Away Paris Saint-Germain Barcelona Manchester City Roma Aston Villa Galatasaray Villarreal Slovan Bratislava Como Bayern Munich Arsenal Atlético Madrid Real Betis Manchester United Bodø/Glimt Lille Slavia Prague Viking Real Madrid Inter Milan Arsenal PSV Eindhoven Roma RB Leipzig Shakhtar Donetsk LASK AEK Athens Liverpool Atlético Madrid Inter Milan Porto Club Brugge Villarreal Fenerbahçe Lens LASK Inter Milan Liverpool Real Madrid Club Brugge Borussia Dortmund Shakhtar Donetsk Feyenoord VfB Stuttgart Slovan Bratislava Manchester City Paris Saint-Germain Barcelona Sporting CP Porto Napoli RB Leipzig AEK Athens Lens Arsenal Real Madrid Bayern Munich Borussia Dortmund Real Betis Lille Napoli Sabah Slavia Prague Barcelona Manchester City Paris Saint-Germain Aston Villa Sporting CP Feyenoord Galatasaray Como Sabah Atlético Madrid Bayern Munich Liverpool Manchester United PSV Eindhoven Fenerbahçe Bodø/Glimt Viking VfB Stuttgart Borussia Dortmund Inter Milan Arsenal Real Betis Aston Villa Villarreal Bodø/Glimt AEK Athens Sabah Roma Real Madrid Paris Saint-Germain Sporting CP Manchester United Lille Fenerbahçe Slovan Bratislava AEK Athens Sporting CP Barcelona Manchester City Manchester United Roma Galatasaray Shakhtar Donetsk LASK Lens Aston Villa Paris Saint-Germain Barcelona Borussia Dortmund Club Brugge Fenerbahçe Galatasaray Viking Slavia Prague Porto Manchester City Liverpool PSV Eindhoven Real Betis Napoli Feyenoord Slavia Prague LASK Manchester United Bayern Munich Atlético Madrid Roma Sporting CP RB Leipzig Villarreal Sabah Como Club Brugge Liverpool Inter Milan Aston Villa PSV Eindhoven Bodø/Glimt Napoli Lens VfB Stuttgart Real Betis Arsenal Bayern Munich Porto Borussia Dortmund Feyenoord Lille Como Slovan Bratislava PSV Eindhoven Atlético Madrid Real Madrid Club Brugge Porto Shakhtar Donetsk RB Leipzig VfB Stuttgart Viking Feyenoord Inter Milan Barcelona Porto Real Betis RB Leipzig Galatasaray Como Viking Lille Bayern Munich Arsenal Real Betis Roma Galatasaray Bodø/Glimt Slovan Bratislava VfB Stuttgart Bodø/Glimt Atlético Madrid Bayern Munich Borussia Dortmund Club Brugge Lille Napoli LASK Lens Napoli Arsenal Manchester City Club Brugge Porto Bodø/Glimt Villarreal Viking Sabah RB Leipzig Manchester City Real Madrid PSV Eindhoven Manchester United Shakhtar Donetsk Feyenoord Lens Como Villarreal Paris Saint-Germain Liverpool Manchester United Borussia Dortmund Napoli Fenerbahçe Sabah Slavia Prague Fenerbahçe Liverpool Atlético Madrid Roma Aston Villa Villarreal Shakhtar Donetsk Slavia Prague LASK Shakhtar Donetsk Real Madrid Inter Milan Sporting CP PSV Eindhoven Fenerbahçe RB Leipzig AEK Athens Slovan Bratislava Galatasaray Barcelona Paris Saint-Germain Aston Villa Sporting CP Feyenoord Lille VfB Stuttgart AEK Athens Slavia Prague Arsenal Bayern Munich Aston Villa Porto Villarreal Fenerbahçe Lens Sabah Slovan Bratislava Inter Milan Paris Saint-Germain Real Betis Roma Shakhtar Donetsk Lille VfB Stuttgart LASK VfB Stuttgart Atlético Madrid Inter Milan Club Brugge PSV Eindhoven Lille Galatasaray Viking Slovan Bratislava AEK Athens Real Madrid Manchester City Roma Borussia Dortmund Galatasaray Shakhtar Donetsk LASK Como LASK Liverpool Real Madrid Porto Sporting CP Fenerbahçe Bodø/Glimt Slovan Bratislava AEK Athens Como Paris Saint-Germain Barcelona Manchester United Real Betis RB Leipzig Feyenoord AEK Athens Lens Lens Manchester City Liverpool Sporting CP Club Brugge Bodø/Glimt RB Leipzig Como Slavia Prague Viking Bayern Munich Atlético Madrid PSV Eindhoven Aston Villa Feyenoord Napoli Sabah VfB Stuttgart Sabah Barcelona Arsenal Borussia Dortmund Manchester United Napoli Villarreal Slavia Prague Viking
League phase table The top eight ranked teams receive a bye directly to the round of 16. Teams ranked from 9th to 24th contest the knockout phase play-offs, with teams ranked from 9th to 16th seeded for the draw. Teams ranked from 25th to 36th are eliminated from all competitions.
Results summary
By matchday
By team
Matches The fixture list was announced on 29 August 2026, two days after the draw. This was to ensure no calendar clashes with teams in the Europa League and Conference League playing in the same cities.
In principle, each team will not play more than two home matches or two away matches in a row, and will play one home match and one away match across both the first and last two matchdays. The matches will be played on 8–10 September (exclusive week), 13–14 October, 20–21 October, 3–4 November, 24–25 November and 8–9 December 2026, 19–20 January and 27 January 2027. All matches will be played on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, except for the competition's exclusive week, which also included Thursday fixtures. The scheduled kick-off times are 18:45 (two matches on each day) and 21:00 (remaining matches) CET/CEST. The only exception is the final matchday, where all fixtures will be played simultaneously at 21:00.
Times are CET or CEST, as listed by UEFA (local times, if different, are in parentheses).
Matchday 1
Matchday 2
Matchday 3
Matchday 4
Matchday 5
Matchday 6
Matchday 7
Matchday 8
Notes
References
External links