{
  "id": 3060360,
  "title": "Champions League draw: Start time, teams and how to watch league phase matches",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/24/champions-league-draw-start-time-teams-and-how-to-watch-league-phase",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-08-24T16:11:28.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Sports",
    "slug": "yahoo-sports",
    "url": "https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/champions-league-draw-start-time-161128559.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The UEFA Champions League league phase draw, determining the matchups for the 36-team first round, will occur on Thursday, August 27th at 5pm BST (12pm ET). The event, set to take place in Monaco, will be hosted by TNT Sports 1 and HBO Max in the UK, alongside Prime Video as the joint broadcasters.\n\nPot 1 consists of elite teams such as Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Manchester City, Arsenal, Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid. Other participating clubs include Aston Villa, Manchester United, Aston Villa, Roma, Sporting Porto, Club Brugge, PSV Eindhoven, and Real Betis. Pot 2 features Aston Villa, Manchester United, Borussia Dortmund, Roma, Sporting Porto, Club Brugge, PSV Eindhoven, and Real Betis.\n\nPot 3 comprises Feyenoord, Lille, Napoli, RB Leipzig, Villarreal, Shakhtar Donetsk, and Galatasaray, while Pot 4 is composed of Slavia Prague, Slovan Bratislava, VfB Stuttgart, Levski Sofia, and AEK Athens. Winners of the preliminary play-offs, Celtic vs LASK, NEC Nijmegen vs Bodo/Glimt, Dinamo Zagreb vs Viking, and Celtic vs LASK, will join Pot 3 and 4 respectively.\n\nThe top eight teams will automatically advance to the knockout round, with the remaining 28 teams qualifying for the play-off round. Teams finishing from ninth to 16th positions will be seeded and host the second leg, whereas teams ranked 25th and below will be eliminated and join the Europa League.",
  "summary": "The draw for the 2026/27 Champions League 36-team league phase will take place on Thursday, 27 August",
  "key_points": [
    "UEFA Champions League league phase draw on August 27th at 5pm BST",
    "Pot 1 features elite teams like PSG, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid",
    "Top eight teams advance to knockout round automatically"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "TechRadar",
        "title": "How to watch Fulham vs Chelsea: Free streams and TV channels for Premier League 2026/27",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/24/how-to-watch-fulham-vs-chelsea-free-streams-and-tv-channels-for",
        "published": "2026-08-24T16:15:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Yahoo Sports",
        "title": "📸 Opening day of the Premier League and first howler for Robert Sánchez 🫠",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/24/opening-day-of-the-premier-league-and-first-howler-for-robert-sanchez",
        "published": "2026-08-24T19:33:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}