European football's attention turns to Monaco on Thursday, 27 August, as the 36 teams competing in this season's Champions League learn their opponents for the newly formatted league phase, with five Premier League clubs among those awaiting their fate.
Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool and Europa League holders Aston Villa make up England's contingent this season, following the confirmation of all 36 qualifiers. Scottish champions Celtic will not be involved after being eliminated by LASK in the play-off round, falling on aggregate in the second leg.
The draw, scheduled to begin at 5pm BST (12pm ET), will determine each side's eight fixtures in the league phase, with clubs no longer facing the same three opponents home and away as under the old format. Instead, every team will be drawn against two sides from each of four seeding pots, playing one match at home and one away against opponents from each pot. Safeguards are also in place to prevent identical fixtures from being repeated in three consecutive seasons.
Arsenal head into the campaign still smarting from last season's final heartbreak, when they were beaten on penalties by Paris Saint-Germain after Gabriel Magalhães failed to convert a crucial spot-kick. Having since won their first Premier League title under Mikel Arteta, the Gunners will view Champions League success as the logical next step, and a repeat meeting with PSG in the league phase remains a genuine possibility given both clubs sit in Pot 1.
Luis Enrique's PSG, chasing a third consecutive European crown, enter this year's competition as bookmakers' favourites at 5/1, just ahead of Barcelona and Arsenal, both priced at 6/1. Bayern Munich (13/2), Real Madrid (7/1) and Manchester City (8/1) round out the leading contenders, while Liverpool (11/1) and Manchester United (14/1) trail behind. Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid and Aston Villa complete the list of notable outsiders at longer odds.
The seeding pots for the draw are set, with Pot 1 containing PSG, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Manchester City, Arsenal, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. Pot 2 features Borussia Dortmund, Roma, Sporting CP, Aston Villa, Porto, Manchester United, Club Brugge, Real Betis and PSV Eindhoven. Pot 3 includes Feyenoord, Lille, Bodo/Glimt, Napoli, RB Leipzig, Villarreal, Fenerbahce, Shakhtar Donetsk and Galatasaray, while Pot 4 comprises Slavia Prague, Slovan Bratislava, VfB Stuttgart, AEK Athens, LASK, Como, Lens, Viking and Sabah.
The league phase itself is set to kick off on 8 September, with matchday one running through 10 September. Subsequent rounds are scheduled for October 13/14, October 20/21, November 3/4, November 24/25 and December 8/9, before the competition resumes in the new year with fixtures on January 19/20 and a final league-phase matchday on 27 January.
The knockout phase play-offs will follow on 16/17 and 23/24 February, leading into the round of 16 on 9/10 and 16/17 March. Quarter-finals are pencilled in for 6/7 and 13/14 April, with the semi-finals set for 27/28 April and 4/5 May. The season will culminate with the final at Atletico Madrid's Estadio Metropolitano on 5 June 2027.
Coverage of the draw itself is being broadcast live in the UK on TNT Sports 1 and via the HBO Max app, with UEFA.com and TNT Sports' YouTube channel also streaming proceedings for free as clubs across the continent discover the road ahead in Europe's premier competition.
Based on reporting from Independent Football and Standard Football.