Thirty-Six Clubs Enter the Champions League Draw in Monaco Tonight With Fenerbahce, Sabah and Viking Among the Play-Off Winners
The 2026/27 league phase draw is made at the Grimaldi Forum at 18:00 local time on Thursday, which is midnight in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Each of the 36 clubs leaves with eight opponents.
The 2026/27 Champions League league phase draw is made at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco at 18:00 local time on Thursday 27 August - midnight Friday in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Thirty-six clubs come out of it with eight opponents each, four at home and four away, and no group table to hide in.
What the draw actually decides
The league phase is a single 36-team table. Every club plays eight different opponents drawn from four seeding pots, two from each. Finish in the top eight and you go straight to the round of 16. Finish ninth to twenty-fourth and you play a two-legged knockout play-off in February. Finish below that and your European season is over in January.
The draw produces the pairings. The calendar - who is at home and on which matchday - is published separately, and UEFA has said the full fixture list will follow no later than Saturday 29 August.
The seven that came through the play-offs
| Club | Country | Play-off outcome |
|---|---|---|
| LASK | Austria | 5-4 on aggregate over Celtic |
| Sabah | Azerbaijan | 6-4 over Hapoel Beer-Sheva |
| Bodo/Glimt | Norway | 6-1 over N.E.C. |
| Fenerbahce | Turkiye | 3-2 over Lyon |
| Viking | Norway | 5-3 over GNK Dinamo |
| AEK Athens | Greece | 4-0 over Levski Sofia |
| Slovan Bratislava | Slovakia | 3-2 over Celje |
The headline casualty was Celtic, who took a 3-0 first-leg lead to Linz and lost 5-1 after extra time. All seven beaten clubs drop into the Europa League league phase rather than going out.
Dates to put in the diary
| Stage | Dates |
|---|---|
| Champions League matchday 1 | 8-10 September 2026 |
| Europa and Conference League draws | Friday 28 August, 13:00 in Monaco |
| Europa League league phase begins | 16 September 2026 |
| Conference League league phase begins | 15 October 2026 |
| Champions League final | 5 June 2027, Estadio Metropolitano, Madrid |
Following it on Playdash
Playdash opens Champions League outrights - winner, to reach the final, group of death specials - as soon as the draw is complete, and prices every league phase fixture with match winner, Asian handicap, over/under, both teams to score, correct score and first goalscorer. Matchday 1 kicks off in the small hours Malaysia and Singapore time, and live in-play markets run for the full 90 minutes on every match.
Draw time, format and competition dates as published by UEFA. The draw had not been made at the time of writing on 27 August 2026, and no fixtures or seeding pots are stated here.