All you need to know about the UEFA Champions League draw
The 2026/27 UEFA Champions League for the blaugranes is about to take shape. This Thursday, 27 August, the league phase draw will take place at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. Both FC Barcelona and the other 35 teams involved will therefore find out who their opponents will be during the league element of this season's premier European club competition.
Two seasons in a row in the top eight
This will be the third year in which the league phase format is used. In the previous two editions, Barça finished among the top eight teams, allowing them to avoid an additional knockout-round play-off. During this phase, all 36 teams will play eight matches against eight different opponents.
Four pots and eight opponents
These eight opponents will be determined in Thursday's draw. As is customary, the teams that have qualified for the Champions League will be divided into four different pots according to their UEFA coefficient, with Barcelona placed in Pot 1. Each team will face two opponents from each pot, one at home and the other away. An automated software system will determine both the opponents and the venues for the matches. Each club will play a total of eight matches during the league phase: four at home and four away.
The Draw Process
The draw will begin with Pot 1, assigning opponents to the teams one by one. It will then continue with the remaining pots in descending order until all teams have been assigned their eight opponents. In the league phase, teams from the same country cannot face each other. For FC Barcelona, this means they cannot be drawn against Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, Real Betis, or Villarreal. In addition, no team can be drawn against more than two clubs from the same country.
Possible Opponents
Divided into pots, Barça's possible opponents are as follows:
- Pot 1: Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool, Manchester City, Inter Milan, Arsenal, and FC Barcelona. Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid are also in Pot 1, but they cannot be drawn against Barça.
- Pot 2: Borussia Dortmund, Roma, Sporting CP, Aston Villa, Porto, Manchester United, Club Brugge, and PSV Eindhoven. Real Betis are also in Pot 2, but they cannot be drawn against Barça.
- Pot 3: Feyenoord, Lille, Napoli, RB Leipzig, Shakhtar Donetsk, Bodø/Glimt, Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray. Villarreal are also in Pot 3, but they cannot be drawn against Barça.
- Pot 4: Slavia Praha, Stuttgart, Como 1907, Lens, Sabah Bakú, LASK Linz, AEK Athens, Viking and Slovan Bratislava.
The Knockout Stages
The league phase will begin on Tuesday, 8 September, and conclude on Wednesday, 27 January, with the final matchday being played simultaneously across all fixtures.
The top eight teams in the standings will qualify directly for the Round of 16 and will be seeded for the draw. Their opponents will come from the play-off round, which will be contested by the teams that finish between 9th and 24th place. All knockout rounds will be played over two legs (home and away), with the exception of the final, which will be held in Madrid (Metropolitano Stadium) on 5 June, 2027.
The second legs of the knockout ties will be played at the home stadiums of the teams that finished as seeds in the league phase.
The 2026/27 UEFA Champions League Schedule
- League Phase: from 8 September 2026 to 27 January 2027.
- Knockout Phase Play-offs: 16/17 February 2027 and 23/24 February 2027.
- Round of 16: 9/10 March 2027 and 16/17 March 2027.
- Quarter-finals: 6/7 April 2027 and 13/14 April 2027.
- Semi-finals: 27/28 April 2027 and 4/5 May 2027.
- Final: 6 June 2027 (Madrid).
Special programme on Barça Play and the Club's YouTube channel
This Thursday, in conjunction with the Champions League draw, the Club's official YouTube channel will broadcast a special program starting at 6pm CEST., providing coverage and analysis of the draw. In addition, the show will include a preview of the La Liga match between Barça and Athletic Club, which will be played later that same Thursday at the Spotify Camp Nou, kick off 9pm CEST.
The countdown to the 2026/27 Champions League has officially begun.