NYON, SWITZERLAND - NOVEMBER 7: A view of the UEFA Champions League trophy during the UEFA Champions League 2022/23 Round of 16 draw at the UEFA Headquarters, The House of the European Football, on November 7, 2022, in Nyon, Switzerland.
UEFA via Getty ImagesThe draw for the league phase of the 2026-27 Champions League will take place on Thursday in Monaco and will see Barcelona discover who they will face this season in Europe’s premier club competition.
Every team in the draw will play two teams from each pot in the league phase.
Teams from the same country cannot play either other, meaning Barcelona will not face any La Liga opposition in the league phase of the competition.
How far do you think Barcelona will go in this season’s Champions League?
Gill Clark is the site manager of Barca Blaugranes and joined in 2017. She has worked in sports media as a writer and editor for the best part of two decades and has been in love with the beautiful game for as long as she can remember.
NYON, SWITZERLAND - NOVEMBER 7: A view of the UEFA Champions League trophy during the UEFA Champions League 2022/23 Round of 16 draw at the UEFA Headquarters, The House of the European Football, on November 7, 2022, in Nyon, Switzerland. (Photo by Kristian Skeie UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images). UEFA via Getty Images
The draw for the league phase of the 2026-27 Champions League will take place on Thursday in Monaco and will see Barcelona discover who they will face this season in Europe’s premier club competition.
Hansi Flick’s side suffered a heartbreaking defeat to Atletico Madrid in the quarter-finals last season and will be determined to improve on that showing in the coming Champions League campaign.
Barcelona will be in Pot 1 for the draw along with defending champions Paris Saint-Germain, beaten finalists Arsenal and La Liga rivals Atletico and Real Madrid. Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Manchester City and Inter are also among the top-rated teams.
There are also plenty of big names scattered throughout the other pots. Three-time European champions Manchester United are back in the competition and in Pot 2 along with Europa League winners Aston Villa, while the likes of Roma, Dortmund, Napoli and Porto are also in contention this year.
Here’s a look at how the pots are shaping up ahead of the final round of play-off fixtures taking place later today.
Which team is in each pot?
Pot 1
Paris Saint-Germain
Bayern Munich
Real Madrid
Liverpool
Inter
Manchester City
Arsenal
Barcelona
Atletico Madrid.
Pot 2
Borussia Dortmund
Roma
Sporting
Aston Villa
Porto
Manchester United
Club Brugge
Real Betis
PSV.
Pot 3
Feyenoord
Lille
Napoli
RB Leipzig
Villarreal
Shakhtar Donetsk
Galatasaray.
Pot 3 or 4 (to be confirmed)
Bodo/Glimt
LASK
Sabah
Slavia Prague
Stuttgart
Como
Lens
Fenerbahce or Lyon
Dinamo Zagreb vs Viking
Slovan Brastislava or Celje
Levski Sofa or AEK Athens.
How the draw works
There will be 36 teams in the draw for the 2026-27 Champions League, 29 qualified automatically at the end of last season and a further seven will make their way through qualifiers that conclude this week.
The 36 teams will be split into the four separate pots for the draw, with Pot 1 featuring the highest-ranked teams and Pot 4 the lowest. The rankings are based on UEFA’s club coefficients from the five-season period ending at the conclusion of 2025-26.
Every team in the draw will play two teams from each pot in the league phase. Teams from the same country cannot play either other, meaning Barcelona will not face any La Liga opposition in the league phase of the competition.
How far do you think Barcelona will go in this season’s Champions League? Share your predictions in the comments below!
