Champions League League Phase: Five English Teams Challenge PSG

The Champions League is back in Monaco, and this time the Premier League has arrived mob‑handed.

Five English clubs step into the spotlight at the Grimaldi Forum this afternoon as the revamped League Phase draw takes centre stage, each of them staring up at the same target: Paris Saint‑Germain, the team that has turned Europe’s biggest prize into a personal habit.

Arsenal, the reigning English champions and last season’s beaten finalists, lead the charge. Manchester City join them as domestic runners-up, with Manchester United returning to the top table alongside Liverpool and Europa League holders Aston Villa, who earned their place with a fourth‑place league finish and that continental triumph.

All of them know the landscape. PSG beat Arsenal on penalties in last season’s final and have doubled down over the summer, strengthening again to ensure they go into the 2026/27 campaign as favourites to lift the trophy for a third straight year. Until someone proves otherwise, the road to the title still runs through Paris.

Arsenal, though, are widely seen as the most likely to shove them off their throne. They came as close as anyone last season and have the scars to prove it. Behind them lurk Barcelona and Real Madrid, the old Spanish heavyweights, with Madrid now back under the command of Jose Mourinho for a second stint that promises drama, friction and, quite possibly, a deep run.

Today’s draw will begin to sketch out that story.

When and where the draw takes place

The league phase draw for the 2026/27 Champions League is staged this afternoon, Thursday, August 27, 2026, from 5pm BST.

The Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, long a familiar backdrop for European football’s big ceremonies, again plays host as 36 clubs discover the path that awaits them from September through to the new year.

How to watch the draw

In the UK, TNT Sports 1 carries the draw live, with coverage starting at 5pm BST before the balls come out shortly after.

Subscribers can also stream the event via the HBO Max app and website, while both UEFA.com and the TNT Sports YouTube channel will show the draw live at no cost. For those who prefer rolling reaction and instant analysis, Standard Sport will run a live blog throughout.

The pots: who sits where

Under UEFA’s new format, all 36 qualified teams are seeded by club coefficient and split into four pots of nine. Those pots were finalised on Wednesday evening after the play-off ties wrapped up.

Pot 1 is a heavyweight collection befitting its status: Paris Saint‑Germain, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Manchester City, Arsenal, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.
Pot 2 contains Borussia Dortmund, Roma, Sporting CP, Aston Villa, Porto, Manchester United, Club Brugge, Real Betis and PSV Eindhoven.
Pot 3 features Feyenoord, Lille, Bodo/Glimt, Napoli, RB Leipzig, Villarreal, Fenerbahce, Shakhtar Donetsk and Galatasaray.
Pot 4 is completed by Slavia Prague, Slovan Bratislava, Stuttgart, AEK Athens, LASK, Como, Lens, Viking and Sabah.

For Manchester United, back “at Europe’s top table” as the photographs will remind everyone, the second pot underlines their current standing: dangerous, but no longer protected by the old elite seeding. For Aston Villa, Pot 2 represents how far they have climbed in a short space of time.

How the new Champions League format works

This is not the old group stage. The League Phase has changed the rhythm of the competition.

Each of the 36 teams will play eight matches in the league phase. Gone are the three opponents faced twice, home and away. Instead, clubs will meet eight different teams, four at home and four away, creating a broader spread of opponents and, potentially, more chaos.

The seeding pots shape those fixtures. Every club will be drawn to face two teams from each pot, including their own. One of those ties from each pot will be at home, the other away, ensuring a mix of glamour nights and awkward trips for everyone involved.

By the end of those eight games, the table will tell its own story.

Key dates for the League Phase

The calendar is tight and unforgiving.

Matchday 1: September 8-10, 2026
Matchday 2: October 13/14, 2026
Matchday 3: October 20/21, 2026
Matchday 4: November 3/4, 2026
Matchday 5: November 24/25, 2026
Matchday 6: December 8/9, 2026
Matchday 7: January 19/20, 2026
Matchday 8: January 27, 2026

By the time that final League Phase ball is kicked at the end of January, we will know who is chasing PSG, who has fallen away, and whether England’s five‑strong contingent has turned weight of numbers into a genuine power shift at the summit of Europe.