The UEFA Champions League draw for the League Phase works with a combination of a manual draw and an automated software system. Here's how it works for the 2025/26 season:

• 36 teams are divided into four pots based on their UEFA club coefficient rankings, which reflect performance over the past five seasons. The Champions League title holder is placed in Pot One alongside the top-ranked teams.
• The draw begins with Pot One. A ball containing the name of a team is drawn manually. Then UEFA's automated software assigns that team eight different opponents, two from each pot (Pots One to Four).
• Each team plays eight matches in this League Phase: facing two teams from each pot, with one match at home and one away.
• The automated system ensures that no team faces another from the same country, and no more than two matches are played against teams from a single nation.
• After all teams are assigned their eight opponents in the same manner across the four pots, the League Phase fixture list is finalized.
• This draw replaces the traditional group stage format and ensures a diverse and balanced range of opponents for each club across the 36-team mini league.

This hybrid draw system combines a physical ball draw for each team in Pot One and a computer-generated assignment of opponents for a comprehensive schedule.