PSG Draws Barcelona and Manchester City in 2026/27 Champions League Group Stage

The group stage draw for the 2026/27 UEFA Champions League took place in Monaco, featuring 36 teams. Twenty-nine clubs qualified directly, while seven advanced through the qualifiers. Notably, Israeli champions Hapoel Be'er Sheva failed to qualify, with Azerbaijani club Sabah making a dramatic comeback to reach the group stage for the first time. Austrian side LASK Linz also impressed by overturning a 3-0 deficit against Celtic to qualify.

The group stage will run from September 8, 2026, to January 27, 2027, with the final scheduled for June 5, 2027, in Madrid. The 36 teams were divided into four pots of nine teams each. Each club will face eight different opponents, playing one home and one away match against two teams from each pot. Teams from the same country cannot be drawn against each other in this phase.

Key matchups include Real Madrid facing Inter Milan, Arsenal, PSV Eindhoven, Roma, RB Leipzig, Shakhtar Donetsk, LASK Linz, and AEK Athens. Manchester City will meet PSG, Barcelona, Sporting Lisbon, Porto, Napoli, Leipzig, AEK Athens, and Lens. PSG’s group includes Barcelona, Manchester City, Roma, Aston Villa, Galatasaray, Villarreal, Slovan Bratislava, and Como.

The top eight teams from the group stage will advance directly to the round of 16, while those finishing 9th to 24th will compete in playoffs for the remaining eight spots. Teams ranked 25th to 36th will be eliminated from European competition.

The top-seeded teams in Pot 1 are PSG, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Manchester City, Arsenal, Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid. Other notable clubs are spread across the remaining pots, including Dortmund, Roma, Sporting, Aston Villa, Porto, Manchester United, Club Brugge, Real Betis, and PSV Eindhoven.