Champions League pots confirmed for Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham ahead of league phase draw

Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham are now only a few hours away from finding out their opponents in this season's Champions League. The draw for the league phase takes place at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco at 5pm on Thursday evening.

All three will be targeting big seasons in Europe's premier competition, with Tottenham and Chelsea eyeing up more European success after winning the Europa League and Conference League respectively in the 2024/25 campaign. It just wasn't to be for Arsenal in last season's Champions League as they exited at the semi-final stage following a 3-1 aggregate defeat against eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain.

Ahead of Thursday's draw, Chelsea find themselves in Pot 1, Arsenal Pot 2 and Tottenham Pot 3. This is the second season where the Champions League is operating with a new format as 36 teams will once again take part in one big league table as they bid to secure a place in the knockout stage.

The 36 teams taking part in the league phase have been split into four pots of nine and they will be each paired with two teams from each pot to determine their eight fixtures. When a club is paired with two teams from a pot, one game will be at home and the other will be away.

No teams from the same country can be drawn against each other and a club cannot face more than two opponents from the same association. As was the case 12 months ago, dates and times for all games will likely be confirmed a day or two after the draw.

Following the conclusion of the play-off round on Wednesday with the last seven teams this week confirming their place in the league phase, UEFA have now confirmed the pots for this evening's draw. You can find out all the pots and key information for this season's competition below:

Champions League confirmed pots

Pot 1: PSG, Real Madrid, Man City, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona.

Pot 2: Arsenal, Bayer Leverkusen, Atletico Madrid, Benfica, Atalanta, Villarreal, Juventus, Eintracht Frankfurt, Club Brugge.

Pot 3: Tottenham, PSV Eindhoven, Ajax, Napoli, Sporting CP, Olympiacos, Slavia Prague, Bodø/Glimt, Marseille.

Pot 4: FC Copenhagen, Monaco, Galatasaray, Union SG, Qarabag, Athletic Club, Newcastle United, Pafos, Kairat Almaty.

Champions League 2025/26 schedule

League phase

Matchday 1: 16-18 September

Matchday 2: 30 September-1 October

Matchday 3: 21-22 October

Matchday 4: 4-5 November

Matchday 5: 25-26 November

Matchday 6: 9-10 December

Matchday 7: 20-21 January

Matchday 8: 28 January

Knockout phase play-offs

First leg: 17-18 February

Second leg: 24-25 February

Round of 16

First leg: 10-11 March

Second leg: 17-18 March

Quarter-finals

First leg: 7-8 April

Second leg: 14-15 April

Semi-finals

First leg: 28-29 April

Second leg: 5-6 May

Final

Saturday, May 30, 2026 at Puskas Arena, Budapest.

Champions League draw dates

League phase: 28 August

Knockout phase play-offs: 30 January

Round of 16/quarter-finals/semi-finals/final: 27 February

Story Saved

You can find this story in  My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.