THE STAGE IS SET! Champions League group phase draw pots confirmed as Arsenal, Man City, Man Utd, Liverpool and Villa await their fate

The Premier League has three representatives in Pot One of the Champions League draw, UEFA has confirmed. The draw for the league stage of the 2026/27 edition of the competition is due to take place in Nyon on Thursday evening.

There will be representation from five Premier League clubs this year, with those teams now having been sorted into their respective pots by courtesy of their five-year UEFA coefficients. Champions Arsenal - who were defeated in last season’s final by PSG - obviously have a place in Pot One.

The Gunners are joined by rivals Liverpool and Manchester City. The Reds only just squeezed into the competition by finishing fifth last year, with the Premier League being granted an extra place due to the division’s UEFA coefficient. City meanwhile finished second behind Arsenal.

The trio have been joined in Pot One by European champions PSG, as well as Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.

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The remaining two Premier League clubs have been placed into Pot Two. Manchester United sealed a return to the Champions League last season following an impressive late-season run under Michael Carrick, with their coefficient seeing them drop out of the highest pot.

Aston Villa are also in Pot Two, having not only sealed their spot in the Champions League by way of their fourth-placed finish, but also their Europa League success. They are joined in Pot Two by a number of big-hitters including Borussia Dortmund, Roma, Porto and more.

Pot Three still has a number of big names such as Lille, Napoli and Galatasaray, while Stuttgart, Como and Lens are among the recognisable names in the final pot.

When it comes to the draw, each team will be drawn against two opponents from each pot, and will play one of those teams at home, as well as one away, resulting in eight opponents overall.

However, there are already some stipulations. Arsenal will not be allowed to play Inter Milan away, while Liverpool cannot be drawn against Real Madrid at home due to a new UEFA rule introduced for this campaign that bans teams from playing the same fixture in three consecutive years.

Once the league stage games are completed, each side will then be sorted into a 36-team league table, with the top eight automatically qualifying for the last 16, while those ranked between ninth to 24th will head into the playoffs. Any team ranked lower than that will be eliminated.

Pot 1

Paris (FRA)

Bayern München (GER)

Real Madrid (ESP)

Liverpool (ENG)

Inter (ITA)

Man City (ENG)

Arsenal (ENG)

Barcelona (ESP)

Atleti (ESP)

Pot 2

B. Dortmund (GER)

Roma (ITA)

Sporting CP (POR)

Aston Villa (ENG)

Porto (POR)

Man Utd (ENG)

Club Brugge (BEL)

Real Betis (ESP)

PSV (NED)

Pot 3

Feyenoord (NED)

Lille (FRA)

Bodø/Glimt (NOR)

Napoli (ITA)

Leipzig (GER)

Villarreal (ESP)

Fenerbahçe (TUR)

Shakhtar (UKR)

Galatasaray (TUR)

Pot 4

Slavia Praha (CZE)

S. Bratislava (SVK)

Stuttgart (GER)

AEK Athens (GRE)

LASK (AUT)

Como (ITA)

Lens (FRA)

Viking (NOR)

Sabah (AZE)