The make-up for this season’s Champions League is complete with all 36 qualified teams awaiting the draw later on Thursday.
Now in its third season in this current set-up the competition sees all 36 sides bunched in to one big league table. Each team is handed eight fixtures, four at home and four away – two teams from Pots 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the draw. The draw. Intriguingly, is done by a supercomputer which automatically selects a team’s opponents.
There are certain stipulations attached however, such as a new UEFA regulation that states a team cannot play the same individual league phase fixture for three seasons in a row. The top eight sides in the league will qualify automatically for the last-16, while teams finishing 25th or lower are eliminated.
The teams finishing in ninth to 24th place compete in a two-legged knockout-phase play-off. Teams finishing between ninth and 16th are seeded, meaning they will face a team in 17th-24th with the return leg at home.
The first matchday is scheduled for September 8-10. This season’s final – as it was in 2019 – will be played at Atletico Madrid’s Estadio Metropolitano on June 5, 2027. The draw takes place at 5pm on Thursday in Monaco.
Here are the pots and their respective teams:
Pot 1
- PSG (defending champions)
- Bayern Munich
- Real Madrid
- Liverpool
- Inter Milan
- Manchester City
- Arsenal
- Barcelona
- Atletico Madrid
Pot 2
- Aston Villa
- Manchester United
- Borussia Dortmund
- Roma
- Sporting
- Porto
- Club Brugge
- PSV Eindhoven
- Real Betis
Pot 3
- Feyenoord
- Lille
- Napoli
- Bodo/Glimt
- RB Leipzig
- Villarreal
- Fenerbahce
- Shakhtar Donetsk
- Galatasaray
Pot 4
- LASK Linz
- Sabah
- Slavia Prague
- Stuttgart
- Como
- Lens
- Viking
- Slovan Bratislava
- AEK Athens
