Champions League draw LIVE: Arsenal, Man United, Man City discover league-phase opponents

Hello and welcome to Sports Mole's live coverage of the 2026-27 Champions League league-phase draw!

All 36 teams competing in Europe's premier tournament for the upcoming campaign will soon discover their eight opponents for the first phase of the competition, including Premier League quintet Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City, Aston Villa and Liverpool.

Stay completely up to date with all the balls being drawn out of all the pots with our live blog below!

Champions League 2026-27 draw: What to know

Premier League champions Arsenal sit in Pot 1 alongside Liverpool and Manchester City, who are joined by Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.

Manchester United and Aston Villa - both returning to the competition - have been placed in Pot 2 alongside Borussia Dortmund, Roma, Sporting CP, Porto, Club Brugge, Real Betis and PSV.

In the third season of the revamped 36-team format, every side plays eight different opponents within a single league table: two from each seeding pot, one at home and one away.

The top eight sides progress automatically to the round of 16, clubs finishing ninth to 24th enter a two-legged knockout playoff, and those finishing 25th or lower are eliminated - there is no fall into the Europa League.

No English club can face another in the league phase, meaning all five Premier League sides are removed from each other's draw entirely.

UEFA has introduced an additional restriction for this season: no individual fixture between two clubs can be played at the same venue for three consecutive seasons in the league phase.

That rule has a direct consequence for Arsenal, who have made back-to-back trips to San Siro to face Inter Milan - losing 1-0 in November 2024 after a Hakan Calhanoglu penalty, then winning 3-1 in January 2026 through two Gabriel Jesus goals and a Viktor Gyokeres finish - meaning Inter cannot be drawn to host the Gunners for a third straight campaign.

Liverpool are subject to the same restriction with Real Madrid: the Reds beat Los Blancos 2-0 at Anfield in November 2024 and 1-0 the following season, so Real Madrid cannot be drawn to visit Merseyside again in the league phase.

Neither tie is off the table entirely: Arsenal can still be drawn to host Inter at the Emirates, and Liverpool can be drawn away to the Bernabeu.

The restriction applies only to the league phase and carries no weight in the knockout rounds, where any two clubs can meet regardless of recent fixture history.