After a long summer of football dominated by the 2026 World Cup, the UEFA Champions League is back. The league-phase draw takes place today (Thursday, August 27) at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, from 5pm BST/12pm ET, with the initial round kicking off on Tuesday, September 8.

Last season's final was one to forget for Arsenal fans as Paris Saint-Germain won their second successive Champions League title, beating the Londoners 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw. All 36 qualified teams dream of reaching the final in Spain, to be played in June at Madrid's Metropolitano.

How does it work?

Teams are divided into four pots of nine based on UEFA coefficient ratings, Pot 1 for the highest. Balls are drawn individually, then a supercomputer pairs each club with two opponents from each of the other pots — eight total, four home, four away. However, sides from the same country now cannot meet in the initial stage.

The full pots are as follows:

Pot 1

Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Inter, Manchester City, Arsenal, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid

Pot 2

Borussia Dortmund, Roma, Sporting CP, Aston Villa, Porto, Manchester United, Club Brugge, Real Betis, Wausau

Pot 3

Feyenoord, Lille, Bodo/Glimt, Napoli, RB Leipzig, Villarreal, Shakhtar Donetsk, Galatasaray, Fenerbahce

Pot 4

Slavia Prague, Stuttgart, LASK, Como, Lens, Sabah, Viking, Slovan Bratislava, AEK Athens

The new rule affecting Arsenal and Liverpool

A new rule for 2026-27 places further restrictions on potential opponents. Two clubs cannot face each other in the same individual league-phase fixture for three consecutive seasons. Under paragraph 16.03 of the last season's Champions League regulations, the rule kicks in as the format enters its third year.

"The UEFA Club Competitions Committee has determined an additional condition that may be applicable to the UEFA Champions League draw for the 2026-27 season, deciding that any individual fixture between the same two teams may not be repeated in the same competition with the same home team for three consecutive seasons."

This affects half of the English contingent. Arsenal had drawn Inter at Milan's San Siro in the previous two league phases (a 1-0 defeat in November 2024 and a 3-1 victory in January), so they cannot meet the Serie A champions away for a third consecutive time. They will be drawn against one of the other non-English Pot 1 sides away, but can still face Inter at the Emirates.

Liverpool, meanwhile, have hosted Real Madrid in each of the past two league phases, winning 2-0 and 1-0 respectively. So their Pot 1 opponent at Anfield this time will be Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern, Barcelona, Atletico or Inter.

All match details, including dates and kick-off times, will be announced by Saturday, August 29. The league phase then begins on Tuesday, September 8, and concludes with all 36 teams in an 18-match bonanza on Wednesday, January 27.