Champions League League Phase Draw: PSG Face City, Villa and Barcelona; Arsenal Host Real Madrid
The draw for the 2026/27 Champions League league phase was held on Thursday in Monaco, setting up a series of heavyweight clashes involving the Premier League's five representatives. Defending champions Paris Saint-Germain were handed meetings with Manchester City, Aston Villa and Barcelona among their eight fixtures, while Arsenal, last season's runners-up, will host Real Madrid at the Emirates Stadium.
PSG, who beat Arsenal on penalties in May to retain the trophy, will play Barcelona, Roma, Galatasaray and Slovan Bratislava at home, according to France 24. Luis Enrique's side will travel to England twice to face City and Villa, and will also visit Villarreal and Como. The French champions beat both City and Villa on their way to winning their first Champions League title in 2025.
The draw confirmed that Arsenal, Premier League champions, will host Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Lille and Sabah — the Azerbaijani club making their league phase debut. The Gunners' away fixtures include Bayern Munich, Real Betis, Napoli and Slavia Prague, as reported by BBC and rte.ie. Arsenal were beaten by PSG in last season's final, and this season they will also face a trip to Seville to take on Troy Parrott's Real Betis, a detail highlighted by rte.ie.
Manchester City, in their first Champions League campaign without Pep Guardiola at the helm since 2015-16, will welcome PSG to the Etihad and travel to Barcelona, where they will face former midfielder Rodri, who moved to the Nou Camp in a £65m deal this summer, according to BBC. City will also meet Napoli, who now include another former City player, Kevin De Bruyne, among their ranks. Their other opponents include Sporting, Porto, RB Leipzig, AEK Athens and Lens.
Aston Villa, returning to the competition after a season away, will host PSG and Borussia Dortmund and travel to Barcelona and Galatasaray, as well as facing Club Brugge, Fenerbahce, Viking and Slavia Prague. The draw was described by rte.ie as a repeat of Villa's quarter-final against PSG from two seasons ago.
Manchester United, back in the Champions League after a two-year absence, will face Bayern Munich — a rematch of the famous 1999 final — as well as Atletico Madrid, Roma, Sporting, RB Leipzig, Villarreal, Sabah and Como. United's home games at Old Trafford will include Bayern, Roma, Leipzig and Sabah, with away trips to Atletico, Sporting, Villarreal and Como.
Liverpool, under Andoni Iraola, will host Atletico Madrid, Porto, Villarreal and Lens, and travel to Inter Milan, Club Brugge, Fenerbahce and LASK. The Reds will have a reunion with former midfielder Curtis Jones when they visit the San Siro, as noted by rte.ie.
The first league-phase matches are scheduled for Tuesday, 8 September, with the final round of games on 27 January 2027. UEFA is expected to announce the full fixture schedule on Saturday, and this season's final will be held in Madrid on 5 June.
The draw pots, based on club coefficients, were confirmed ahead of the event. Pot 1 featured PSG, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Manchester City, Arsenal, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. Pot 2 included Borussia Dortmund, Roma, Sporting CP, Aston Villa, Porto, Manchester United, Club Brugge, Real Betis and PSV Eindhoven, as detailed by the Evening Standard.
Teams will play eight matches in the league phase, facing eight different opponents, with four games at home and four away. All 36 qualified clubs were divided into four pots of nine for the draw, which was held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco and broadcast live in the UK on TNT Sports 1.