Champions League heartbreak: Lyon knocked out in play-offs
Defeated by Turkish side Fenerbahçe, Lyon will not be competing in Europe’s most prestigious club competition this year. Six years after their last Champions League campaign, Lyon had set their sights on returning to the competition. Instead, they will compete in the Europa League.
The 2026-27 Champions League league phase draw is set to occur on the 17th of the month in Monaco. This draw will involve a total of 36 teams, who will each face eight opponents once during the league phase. Each team will play four home matches and four away matches.
The teams are divided into four pots for the draw, with pot one containing the highest-ranked teams and pot four containing the lowest-ranked teams. The ranking of teams within each pot is based on their UEFA club coefficient ranking from the period ending in 2025-26.
Each team will be paired with two teams from each of the four pots, but they cannot face an opponent from the same country. The eight teams ranked highest, including Premier League clubs Liverpool, Manchester City, and Arsenal, will directly enter the last 16 stage. The teams ranked ninth to 24th will move on to the play-off knockout round. The last 12 teams, ranked 25th to 36th, will be eliminated once the league phase is over.
Pre-eminent Premier League participants in pot one include Liverpool, Manchester City, and Arsenal, alongside European giants Paris St-Germain, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid. Aston Villa and Manchester United, both returning to the Champions League after their absence last season, are placed in pot two. They join other notable clubs from pot two such as Borussia Dortmund, Roma, Sporting, Porto, Club Brugge, Real Betis, and PSV Eindhoven.
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