The UEFA Champions League is set for one of the most anticipated dates of its calendar, with Europe's biggest clubs discovering their league-phase opponents on Thursday. Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City and Inter Milan are among the heavyweights waiting to learn their routes through the opening stage of the 2026-27 competition.Paris Saint-Germain lifted the 2026 UEFA Champions League title. (REUTERS)The Champions League is entering its third season under the expanded league-phase format, meaning there will again be no traditional eight groups of four teams. Instead, 36 clubs will compete in one league table, with every side playing eight matches against eight different opponents. The draw will determine those opponents as well as which four fixtures each club plays at home and which four it plays away.When and where is the Champions League draw?The 2026-27 Champions League league-phase draw will take place at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on Thursday, August 27. Proceedings are scheduled to begin at 9:30 PM IST. UEFA will make the draw available through its official platforms. Sony remains the Champions League broadcast partner for the Indian subcontinent.The complete match schedule will not necessarily be released alongside the draw. UEFA has said the fixture list, including match dates and kick-off times, will be communicated no later than Saturday, August 29.Which teams are in the Champions League draw?The league phase consists of 36 clubs, with 29 securing direct entry and seven coming through qualifying. Among the confirmed participants are some of Europe's biggest names. Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool and Aston Villa represent England, while Spain has Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Villarreal and Real Betis.Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund are among the German representatives, while Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Milan, Roma, Napoli, Sporting CP, Porto, PSV Eindhoven, Feyenoord and Club Brugge are also in the competition. The final qualifying places are being settled in the Champions League play-offs immediately before the draw. Bodø/Glimt, LASK and Sabah booked their places on Tuesday, with four more spots to be decided through Wednesday's remaining second legs.How will the Champions League draw work?The 36 clubs will be separated into four pots containing nine teams each. The pots are determined primarily by UEFA club coefficients, with the reigning Champions League holders placed as the top seed in Pot 1. But unlike the old Champions League group-stage system, being in Pot 1 does not allow a club to avoid the other leading seeds.Every team will be assigned two opponents from each of the four pots — including its own pot. It will face one team from each pot at home and another away. That means every club plays eight league-phase games: two against Pot 1 opposition, two against Pot 2, two against Pot 3 and two against Pot 4.The process combines a physical draw with automated technology. Clubs are physically selected during the ceremony before software determines their opponents and home-and-away allocation while ensuring that all of UEFA's restrictions are satisfied. There are also limitations on which clubs can be paired. Teams from the same domestic association cannot, in principle, face each other during the league phase. A club can also face a maximum of two opponents from any one other national association.Also Read: Women Hockey WC: India eye historic fifth place finish against higher ranked GermanyWhen will the Champions League league phase begin?The league phase starts from September 8 and will stretch into January 2027. Matchday 1 will be played from September 8-10, followed by games on October 13-14 and October 20-21. The fourth matchday is scheduled for November 3-4, before Matchday 5 on November 24-25 and Matchday 6 on December 8-9.After the winter break, Matchday 7 will take place on January 19-20, with all teams completing the league phase on January 27. Each club plays four matches at home and four away. UEFA's regulations also state that, in principle, teams should not play more than two successive home or away fixtures.How do teams qualify for the Champions League knockouts?All 36 teams will be ranked together in a single table after their eight matches. The top eight will qualify automatically for the round of 16. Teams finishing from ninth to 24th will enter a two-legged knockout phase play-off to decide the other eight places in the last 16.The bottom 12 teams, those finishing from 25th to 36th, will be eliminated from Europe. Unlike the previous Champions League format, there is no route into the Europa League for teams knocked out at this stage. The knockout phase play-offs are scheduled for February 16-17 and 23-24, with the round of 16 beginning in March.The competition will eventually reach its conclusion at Atletico Madrid's Estadio Metropolitano on June 5, 2027. Madrid will host the European Cup or Champions League final for the sixth time, while the Metropolitano will stage the showpiece for the second time after Liverpool's 2-0 victory over Tottenham there in 2019.