Barcelonas Champions League route set for major tests as Real Madrid avoid familiar foe

Barcelona are set to face a demanding Champions League campaign in 2026-27, while Real Madrid have avoided a meeting with one of their traditional rivals, according to the outcome of the league-phase draw.

The draw follows a major change to the competition format introduced by UEFA at the beginning of the 2024-25 season. Paris Saint-Germain have won the competition on the first two occasions under the new system, beating Inter in the first final and Arsenal in the second.

The 2026-27 Champions League will feature 36 teams. UEFA’s qualification structure is designed to ensure that leading clubs from the strongest European leagues are represented, while also providing additional places based on domestic and continental performance.

The draw produced the scheduled matches for the league phase, although the source information does not list each individual fixture.

Under the revised format, 32 teams qualify through the standard allocation based on the European league rankings. The places are distributed as follows: the champions of the leagues ranked from first to 10th; the runners-up from the leagues ranked from first to sixth; the third- and fourth-placed clubs from the leagues ranked from first to fourth; six teams through qualifying; the Champions League holders; and the Europa League winners.

Four further places are awarded according to additional criteria. One goes to the club finishing third in the country ranked fifth in Europe. Another is reserved for a domestic league champion, increasing the number of teams entering through the champions’ path from four to five.

The final two places are allocated to the countries whose clubs recorded the best collective performances in the previous season, 2024-25. The calculation is made by dividing the total number of points earned by clubs from each country by the number of participating teams. The two leagues with the highest averages receive the extra berths.

The 36 teams are divided into four seeding pots. Each club will play eight different opponents, with four matches at home and four away. Every team will face two sides from each seeding pot, and the draw is conducted by computer.

Once the league phase is complete, the clubs finishing from first to eighth will qualify directly for the last 16.

Teams placed ninth to 24th will enter a two-legged play-off. The eight winners will join the eight automatically qualified sides in the next round, completing the last-16 line-up.

Clubs finishing from 25th to 36th will be eliminated from the competition. None of those teams will drop into the Europa League.

From the last 16 onwards, the tournament will continue in the traditional knockout format, with ties played over two legs.

UEFA has announced that the draw for the 2026-27 Champions League league phase will take place on Thursday, 27 August. It will determine the route for all 36 qualified teams in Europe’s leading club competition.

The ceremony is scheduled to begin at 19:00 Saudi Arabia time and 20:00 United Arab Emirates time.

Qatari broadcaster beIN Sports holds the rights to broadcast the Champions League 2026-27 draw. The ceremony will be shown on the free-to-air BeIN Sports News channel, which is available across all satellites, and through the live-streaming service TOD TV.

The seeding pots will be confirmed once all participating teams have officially qualified. UEFA will determine their positions using performances from recent seasons in European competitions.

The opening rounds of the 2026-27 Champions League are scheduled to begin on Tuesday, 8 September 2026, and conclude on Wednesday, 27 January 2027. The source information announces those dates but does not provide the detailed fixture-by-fixture schedule.