Atletico Madrid Lands in Pot 1 for 2026/27 Champions League

The draw hasn't happened yet, but you can already start picturing Atletico Madrid's European schedule. Diego Simeone's side knows its status: it lands in Pot 1 for the league phase of the 2026/27 Champions League, which in theory guarantees somewhat more manageable opponents from the other three pots. But in this competition, we already know "in theory" doesn't count for much.

The league-phase format, the same one introduced two seasons ago, requires each club to play eight matches: two against teams from each of the four pots, four at home and four on the road. One rule remains unchanged, though: Atletico cannot face any club from its own federation, so matchups with Spanish teams are ruled out from the start.

Being in Pot 1 doesn't guarantee anything, but it does spare Atletico from some of the toughest matchups in that group. Names like Bayern Munich, PSG, Liverpool, Manchester City, Inter and Arsenal all sit there, rivals Atletico will only meet if they share a pot in a future edition, not this one.

The Pots Atletico Will Actually Face

Two opponents will come from Pot 2, which includes heavyweight clubs like Borussia Dortmund, Roma, Manchester United, Sporting CP, Aston Villa, Porto, Club Brugge and PSV. Any of those matchups sounds like a marquee fixture, the kind that fills the Metropolitano without much need for promotion.

Pot 3 opens things up a bit more: Feyenoord, Lille, Bodo/Glimt, Napoli, RB Leipzig, Shakhtar Donetsk and Galatasaray make up that group, with very different styles on display, from Bodo/Glimt's vertical attacking game to Napoli's renewed ambition as reigning Serie A champions.

And in Pot 4, home to the opponents considered most beatable on paper, sit Slavia Prague, Stuttgart, Como, Lens, LASK Linz and Sabah FK. Don't get too comfortable, though: in today's European soccer, no pot guarantees free points, and teams from this group have already delivered major upsets in recent campaigns.

Before the full bracket comes together, one last piece needs to fall into place: on Wednesday, August 26, the four teams that will round out the league phase will be determined, coming from the matchups between AEK Athens and Levski Sofia, Viking FK and Dinamo Zagreb, NK Celje and Slovan Bratislava, and Lyon against Fenerbahce. Only once those spots are settled will the pot lineup be finalized, and the draw will reveal who Atletico will be paired with in this new edition of the Champions League.