The league phase draw for this season’s Champions League has set up encounters between European champions Paris St-Germain and Premier League clubs Manchester City and Aston Villa. Five-time winners Barcelona are also in the same group. PSG, who are back-to-back Champions League winners, will host Barcelona at Parc des Princes and will also make trips to Villa Park and Manchester.
Arsenal, the reigning Premier League champions, are scheduled to play Real Madrid, who have won the competition 15 times, at Emirates Stadium. Their schedule also includes an away fixture against Bayern Munich. Arsenal, who were defeated by PSG in a penalty shootout in last season’s final, will also face Borussia Dortmund, Real Betis, Lille, Napoli, Sabah, and Slavia Prague.
Enzo Maresca‘s Manchester City will host PSG at Etihad Stadium. They will also travel to Barcelona, where they will reunite with Rodri, who moved to the Nou Camp in a £65m deal this summer. City will also encounter former midfielder Kevin de Bruyne when Napoli visits Manchester. Other opponents for City include Sporting, Porto, RB Leipzig, AEK Athens, and Lens.
Europa League winners Aston Villa, returning to the competition after a season away, will host PSG and Dortmund. They will also travel to Barcelona and Galatasaray. Unai Emery‘s team will additionally play Club Brugge, Fenerbahce, Viking, and Slavia Prague.
Premier League Club Fixtures
Manchester United, making a return after a two-year absence, will compete against Bayern, Atletico Madrid, Roma, Sporting, Leipzig, Villarreal, Sabah, and Como. Meanwhile, Liverpool will host Atletico, Porto, Villarreal, and Lens, and will have away matches against Inter Milan, Brugge, Fenerbahce, and LASK.
The initial league-phase matches are scheduled for Tuesday, 8 September, with the final round of games taking place on 27 January 2027. The full schedule is expected to be released on Saturday. The final of this season’s Champions League is set to be held in Madrid on 5 June.
The league phase format involves each of the 36 participating teams playing eight different opponents, with four matches at home and four away. The top eight teams in the league phase will automatically advance to the last 16. Teams finishing from ninth to 24th will participate in a two-legged knockout play-off to secure a spot in the last 16. Teams ranked 25th or lower will be eliminated from the competition and will not transfer to the Europa League.
Last season, Arsenal, who were the eventual runners-up, led the league phase standings with 24 points from eight wins. Liverpool finished third with 18 points, while Tottenham was fourth with one point less. Chelsea and Manchester City also directly qualified for the last 16, finishing sixth and eighth respectively. Newcastle finished 12th. Last season, Chelsea, Manchester City, Newcastle, and Spurs were eliminated in the last 16, while Liverpool were defeated by PSG in the quarter-finals. PSG also beat Arsenal in the final to claim their second consecutive title.
Manchester City’s European Campaign
Manchester City qualified for Europe’s premier tournament for the 17th time after securing a second-place finish in the Premier League last season. This marks their first European campaign without Pep Guardiola, who concluded his 10-year tenure as City’s manager at the end of the 2025-26 season. Enzo Maresca, Guardiola’s former assistant, has taken over as manager and is tasked with guiding the team to their second Champions League title.
Under the new format, which was introduced two years ago, City will again face eight teams in the league phase. In the draw, Manchester City was placed in Pot 1. Due to UEFA regulations, they cannot be drawn against fellow Premier League clubs Liverpool and Arsenal in the first round. This leaves them with potential opponents such as two-time defending champions PSG, Bayern Munich, FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, and Atletico Madrid. City previously defeated Inter in the 2023 final and eliminated Atletico in the 2021-22 season quarter-finals.
Among the teams in Pot 2, Club Brugge is often considered a favourable draw, while Real Betis is making its first Champions League appearance since the 2005-06 season. Shakhtar Donetsk is another team City might not face significant challenges against, having also easily defeated Villarreal 2-0 away last season. However, if City draws two Spanish teams from Pots 1 and 2, they cannot then draw Villarreal, as UEFA rules limit a team to facing a maximum of two sides from the same league. Pot 4 includes teams of lesser quality, with Slovan Bratislava and Viking, both making their first appearances, being notable examples.
A challenging scenario for City would involve facing Real Madrid, who have eliminated them from the Champions League in the knockout playoffs in 2025 and the Round of 16 last season, winning both home and away matches. Two-time defending champions PSG also represent a difficult opponent; their last encounter in the 2024-25 season league phase saw the French giants win 4-2. From Pot 2, Roma and Borussia Dortmund are considered strong contenders, and Portuguese champions Porto could also pose a challenge. Napoli from Pot 3 is another significant opponent, with a repeat of last season’s opening fixture, which City won 2-0, being a possibility. RB Leipzig is seen as a potential dark horse, and Galatasaray’s recent record against stronger teams suggests they should not be underestimated. Como, led by Cesc Fabregas, is making its Champions League debut after a strong performance in Serie A last season, but cannot be drawn against City if the English club faces two Italian teams from earlier pots. Stuttgart could also present a challenge.
The first league-phase matches are scheduled for Tuesday, 8 September.
Source: bbc.com