UEFA Champions League

Meet the 36 teams in the 2026/27 league phase

The field includes clubs from across Europe, with AEK Athens and Arsenal among the contenders profiled by UEFA.

Johan Cruiff

Game philosophy

Soccer Soccer · Champions League Game philosophy

The 2026/27 UEFA Champions League league phase began on Tuesday, 8 September 2026, with 36 teams in the field.

UEFA’s team guide names the contenders and outlines their qualification routes and recent campaigns. AEK Athens qualified through the play-offs, while Arsenal earned a place by finishing first in England.

The 36 league phase teams

UEFA’s list comprises AEK Athens, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Atlético de Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern München, Bodø/Glimt, Borussia Dortmund, Club Brugge, Como, Fenerbahçe, Feyenoord, Galatasaray, Inter, LASK, Leipzig, Lens, Lille, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Napoli, Paris, Porto, PSV, Real Betis, Real Madrid, Roma, Sabah, Shakhtar, Slavia Praha, Slovan Bratislava, Sporting CP, Stuttgart, Viking and Villarreal.

AEK Athens return after domestic success

AEK Athens qualified as play-off winners after capturing their 14th Greek league title in 2025/26. The team also reached the UEFA Conference League quarter-finals in Marko Nikolić’s first season as coach.

UEFA highlights Luka Jović as a key player after he scored 17 goals in 29 league games in his first season in Greece. Winger Oleksandr Zubkov joined from Trabzonspor, while Angolan international Zini is identified as one to watch.

Arsenal enter after a title-winning season

Arsenal qualified by finishing first in England. UEFA’s guide says Mikel Arteta’s side won the league title in 2025/26 and reached the Champions League final, where they lost to Paris Saint-Germain on penalties.

Bukayo Saka is named as Arsenal’s key player. The guide also identifies midfielder Bruno Guimarães as a major summer signing.

UEFA’s team guide

The club profiles are published by UEFA, which also provides coefficient rankings based on the end of the 2025/26 season. Its guide includes qualification details and selected players for the teams.

Newsroom

The 36-club field brings together teams from across Europe for the 2026/27 Champions League league phase.

Byline

Johan Cruiff

Game philosophy

Editorial transparency · How this story was created

This article was prepared by the automated Ranko newsroom using tournament data recorded on Ranko Universe at the time of generation. Subsequent updates or corrections may not yet appear here.

This report summarises the results and standings available when it was prepared.

AI-generated editorial illustration. Not a photograph or an official game screenshot.