The Barcelona Champions League draw has a destination attached to it, and Mundo Deportivo’s man in Monte Carlo framed it in four words: “Del Metropolitano al Metropolitano.” Barça were knocked out of last season’s competition by Atlético Madrid in April, in the quarter-finals — and MD note the 2027 final, on 5 June, will be played at Atlético’s own ground.
The route back there starts this evening at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco. By the time Hansi Flick’s side kick off against Athletic Club at the Spotify Camp Nou tonight, Barça will know all eight of their league-phase opponents. Here is what culers need before the balls come out.
Barcelona Champions League draw: when, where and how to watch
The draw is today, Thursday 27 August, at the Grimaldi Forum. Everything Barça put the start at 6pm CEST — noon on the US east coast, they note, and 5pm in the UK. Mundo Deportivo give it as 18.00 h without a zone label, and Barça Blaugranes write “6pm CET”; the 18:00 local time is common to all three.
BB report it is free on UEFA.com and UEFA.tv, with TNT Sports 1 in the UK and HBO Max in the US; MD list Movistar+ in Spain. EB warn there is a lot of filler before any teams are actually drawn — usually around half an hour of it.
The mechanics: per MD, UEFA draw the nine best-coefficient sides first, and the pairings are generated by software from the British firm AE Live, with Ernst & Young auditing the process. When a club’s name appears, its eight opponents come up on screen marked H for home and A for away. Thirty-six teams, eight matchdays, one table — the format that arrived in 2024-25.
The pots, and who Barça cannot draw
Barcelona are seeded in Pot 1, alongside back-to-back holders Paris Saint-Germain, beaten finalists Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Inter, Manchester City, Real Madrid and Atlético. BB note that country protection rules out Real Madrid and Atlético as opponents; MD’s read is that Barça, Madrid and Atlético will each take two Pot 1 opponents — one at home, one away — from PSG, City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Bayern and Inter, because there will be no all-Spanish tie before the play-off round.
Below the seeds, BB list Pot 2 as Borussia Dortmund, Roma, Sporting, Aston Villa, Porto, Manchester United, Club Brugge, Real Betis and PSV; MD rate Manchester United and Aston Villa its fiercest names, Napoli the strongest of Pot 3 and Como the pick of Pot 4. Pots 3 and 4 were not final when those lists were published, the last play-off ties unsettled.
One name jumps off the Pot 1 sheet. MD call them plainly “el Liverpool de Ronald Araujo” — Araújo left for Merseyside on loan earlier this month — and rate Liverpool one of two possible Pot 1 opponents for Barça. MD also note Chelsea, Juventus, Milan, Benfica and Bayer Leverkusen are all absent this season.
What a kind draw would look like
BB make the case for what Barcelona should want: avoid long trips after a heavy summer, and save the biggest names for 2027, when the knockout rounds arrive. Facing Luis Enrique’s PSG has obvious appeal — MD list Ousmane Dembélé and Ferran Torres among the champions’ ranks, and BB add Dro Fernández — but BB would rather it came later. Arsenal and Bayern, they argue, are best saved too.
The rest of Pot 1, BB reckon, Barça will fancy. Manchester City and Liverpool are both under new management, and Inter would offer a shot at revenge for the 2024-25 semi-final. BB report the top eight in the single table go straight to the Round of 16, with a play-off round below.
This is Flick’s third run at the European Cup with Barcelona, after a semi-final and a quarter-final. The club have not lifted it since Berlin in 2015. This evening the Blaugrana find out what stands between them and that final in Madrid — and tonight, in the rearranged Matchday 1, they get on with LaLiga, with Rodri expected to make his Barça debut against Athletic Club. He already knows what winning this competition feels like.
