Europa League Draw 2026/27: Full Fixtures, Pots and Biggest Matchups

By Mubarak Abubakar

August 28, 2026

10 min read

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The UEFA Europa League draw bowl ahead of the 2026/27 league phase draw in Monaco

Every fixture from the 2026/27 Europa League league phase draw in Monaco: all four pots, all 36 clubs, and the biggest matchups to watch.

The 2026/27 Europa League league phase is set. The draw was held on Friday, 28 August, at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, the day after the Champions League draw at the same venue, and it produced one of the more star-studded Europa League pots in years. Juventus, AC Milan, Benfica and Bayer Leverkusen, four clubs who spent most of the last decade treating the Champions League as their natural home, all missed out on qualifying for it this season and were seeded into Pot 1 instead. Marseille, who fielded Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in a run to the semi-finals two seasons ago, join them there.

Here is everything that came out of Monaco: the four pots in full, every one of the 36 clubs' eight opponents, the fixtures worth circling on the calendar, and the dates that matter between now and next May's final in Frankfurt.

How the 2026/27 draw worked

The Europa League uses the identical "Swiss model" system as the Champions League: all 36 qualified clubs sat in four pots of nine, seeded by UEFA club coefficient, and each club was drawn against two opponents from each pot, one at home and one away, for eight matches in total. Clubs from the same association could not be paired together, and no club could face more than two teams from any single other association. For the full breakdown of what happens after the league phase (who advances automatically, how the knockout play-off round works, and how it compares to the Champions League and Conference League), read our Europa League format explained guide. This piece is about what the draw itself produced.

The 36 clubs and four draw pots

Seeding is based on each club's UEFA coefficient at the start of the season. Here is how the four pots broke down.

Pot 1

Bayer Leverkusen
Benfica
Juventus
Milan
Lyon
AZ Alkmaar
Olympiacos
Real Sociedad
Marseille

Pot 2

Ferencváros
Viktoria Plzeň
Union Saint-Gilloise
Dinamo Zagreb
Red Bull Salzburg
Celtic
Sparta Prague
Rennes
Anderlecht

Pot 3

Sturm Graz
Lech Poznań
Crystal Palace
Bournemouth
Sunderland
Celje
Jagiellonia Białystok
Omonia
Celta Vigo

Pot 4

TSG Hoffenheim
Beşiktaş
Torreense
Hapoel Be'er Sheva
NEC Nijmegen
OFI Crete
Lillestrøm
Levski Sofia
Ararat-Armenia

Pot 1 is the real story of this year's draw. Four Champions League regulars, Juventus, Milan, Benfica and Bayer Leverkusen, all fell short of qualifying for Europe's top competition this season and land in the Europa League's top seeding tier instead, alongside a Marseille side still built partly around Aubameyang's goals. It gives the pool of possible opponents for every other club in the draw a genuinely heavyweight look that the competition does not always have.

Full fixture list: every club's eight opponents

Below is the complete draw, club by club, listing the four teams each side hosts at home and the four they travel to. Kickoff dates and times for each individual fixture were still being finalized at the time of the draw, matched against the eight matchday windows below.

Club	Home opponents	Away opponents
Bayer Leverkusen	Marseille, Red Bull Salzburg, Celje, Beşiktaş	Lyon, Dinamo Zagreb, Lech Poznań, OFI Crete
Benfica	AZ Alkmaar, Celtic, Lech Poznań, OFI Crete	Milan, Viktoria Plzeň, Omonia, NEC Nijmegen
Juventus	Real Sociedad, Rennes, Omonia, Hapoel Be'er Sheva	AZ Alkmaar, Ferencváros, Celta Vigo, NEC Nijmegen
Milan	Benfica, Ferencváros, Sunderland, Levski Sofia	Olympiacos, Red Bull Salzburg, Bournemouth, Ararat-Armenia
Lyon	Bayer Leverkusen, Union Saint-Gilloise, Crystal Palace, TSG Hoffenheim	Real Sociedad, Anderlecht, Jagiellonia Białystok, Lillestrøm
AZ Alkmaar	Juventus, Sparta Prague, Sturm Graz, Ararat-Armenia	Benfica, Dinamo Zagreb, Sunderland, Hapoel Be'er Sheva
Olympiacos	Milan, Sparta Prague, Jagiellonia Białystok, Torreense	Marseille, Rennes, Celje, TSG Hoffenheim
Real Sociedad	Lyon, Viktoria Plzeň, Bournemouth, Lillestrøm	Juventus, Union Saint-Gilloise, Crystal Palace, Celta Vigo
Marseille	Olympiacos, Anderlecht, Celta Vigo, Beşiktaş	Bayer Leverkusen, Celtic, Sturm Graz, Levski Sofia
Ferencváros	Juventus, Viktoria Plzeň, Celje, TSG Hoffenheim	Milan, Celtic, Lech Poznań, Torreense
Viktoria Plzeň	Benfica, Real Sociedad, Jagiellonia Białystok, Lillestrøm	Union Saint-Gilloise, Ferencváros, Bournemouth, Levski Sofia
Union Saint-Gilloise	Real Sociedad, Celtic, Lech Poznań, Hapoel Be'er Sheva	Lyon, Viktoria Plzeň, Celta Vigo, Beşiktaş
Dinamo Zagreb	Bayer Leverkusen, Anderlecht, Sturm Graz, NEC Nijmegen	AZ Alkmaar, Rennes, Sunderland, Hapoel Be'er Sheva
Red Bull Salzburg	Milan, Sparta Prague, Crystal Palace, Levski Sofia	Bayer Leverkusen, Anderlecht, Celje, Ararat-Armenia
Celtic	Marseille, Ferencváros, Celta Vigo, Torreense	Benfica, Union Saint-Gilloise, Omonia, Beşiktaş
Sparta Prague	AZ Alkmaar, Olympiacos, Bournemouth, Ararat-Armenia	Red Bull Salzburg, Rennes, Crystal Palace, Lillestrøm
Rennes	Olympiacos, Juventus, Omonia, OFI Crete	Dinamo Zagreb, Sparta Prague, Sturm Graz, NEC Nijmegen
Anderlecht	Lyon, Marseille, Sunderland, OFI Crete	Red Bull Salzburg, Dinamo Zagreb, Jagiellonia Białystok, TSG Hoffenheim
Sturm Graz	Marseille, Rennes, Bournemouth, TSG Hoffenheim	AZ Alkmaar, Dinamo Zagreb, Celje, OFI Crete
Lech Poznań	Bayer Leverkusen, Ferencváros, Sunderland, OFI Crete	Benfica, Union Saint-Gilloise, Crystal Palace, Torreense
Crystal Palace	Real Sociedad, Sparta Prague, Lech Poznań, Beşiktaş	Lyon, Red Bull Salzburg, Jagiellonia Białystok, TSG Hoffenheim
Bournemouth	Milan, Viktoria Plzeň, Sturm Graz, Lillestrøm	Real Sociedad, Sparta Prague, Celta Vigo, Hapoel Be'er Sheva
Sunderland	AZ Alkmaar, Dinamo Zagreb, Jagiellonia Białystok, Torreense	Milan, Anderlecht, Lech Poznań, Levski Sofia
Celje	Olympiacos, Red Bull Salzburg, Omonia, Ararat-Armenia	Bayer Leverkusen, Ferencváros, Sturm Graz, NEC Nijmegen
Jagiellonia Białystok	Lyon, Olympiacos, Crystal Palace, Levski Sofia	Anderlecht, Viktoria Plzeň, Sunderland, Ararat-Armenia
Omonia	Benfica, Juventus, Celje, Beşiktaş	Celtic, Rennes, Celta Vigo, NEC Nijmegen
Celta Vigo	Juventus, Marseille, Bournemouth, Hapoel Be'er Sheva	Union Saint-Gilloise, Celtic, Omonia, Lillestrøm
TSG Hoffenheim	Lyon, Ferencváros, Sturm Graz, OFI Crete	Olympiacos, Anderlecht, Crystal Palace, Beşiktaş
Beşiktaş	Marseille, Union Saint-Gilloise, Omonia, TSG Hoffenheim	Bayer Leverkusen, Celtic, Crystal Palace, Hapoel Be'er Sheva
Torreense	Olympiacos, Ferencváros, Sunderland, Lillestrøm	Real Sociedad, Celtic, Lech Poznań, Ararat-Armenia
Hapoel Be'er Sheva	Juventus, Dinamo Zagreb, Celta Vigo, Beşiktaş	AZ Alkmaar, Union Saint-Gilloise, Bournemouth, OFI Crete
NEC Nijmegen	Benfica, Juventus, Rennes, Omonia	Dinamo Zagreb, Celje, Levski Sofia, Ararat-Armenia
OFI Crete	Bayer Leverkusen, Anderlecht, TSG Hoffenheim, Hapoel Be'er Sheva	Benfica, Rennes, Lech Poznań, Sturm Graz
Lillestrøm	Real Sociedad, Viktoria Plzeň, Celta Vigo, Levski Sofia	Lyon, Sparta Prague, Bournemouth, Torreense
Levski Sofia	Milan, Red Bull Salzburg, Jagiellonia Białystok, Lillestrøm	Marseille, Sunderland, Ararat-Armenia, NEC Nijmegen
Ararat-Armenia	AZ Alkmaar, Sparta Prague, Celje, Torreense	Milan, Red Bull Salzburg, Jagiellonia Białystok, NEC Nijmegen

The marquee matchups and storylines

The headline story out of Monaco is how many Champions League regulars ended up here instead. Juventus, one of European football's most decorated clubs, face Real Sociedad and Hapoel Be'er Sheva among their eight games. AC Milan, seven-time European champions, travel to Benfica and host Ferencváros, Sunderland and Levski Sofia. Benfica themselves face a tricky-looking pool that includes AZ Alkmaar and Celtic. Bayer Leverkusen, Bundesliga runners-up as recently as their 2023/24 unbeaten domestic season, were drawn against Marseille among their Pot 1 opponents, a fixture that will put Aubameyang directly up against one of the sides he never got to face in his Bundesliga days at Dortmund.

Marseille's own pool is one of the more watchable in the draw, with Olympiacos, Celtic, Bayer Leverkusen and Sturm Graz all on their schedule. For a club whose Europa League identity has been shaped almost entirely by Aubameyang's goalscoring over the past two seasons, a run through a pool this competitive would be a serious statement.

England's representation in the pool looks very different from a typical Champions League draw. Instead of the usual cluster of Premier League giants, this season's Europa League features Crystal Palace, Bournemouth and Sunderland, three clubs more used to mid-table Premier League survival than continental nights. Palace were drawn against Real Sociedad and Red Bull Salzburg among others, Bournemouth face Milan and Real Sociedad, and Sunderland's return to Europe after their promotion includes games against Milan and AZ Alkmaar.

The underdogs and the debutants

Pot 4 delivered two genuine firsts. Bournemouth are playing in European competition for the first time in their history, a landmark moment for a club that spent large parts of the 2010s outside the Premier League entirely. Torreense, a small Portuguese club, are in the same position, making their European debut after an unlikely run through Portugal's domestic route to continental football.

Ararat-Armenia's presence is even more historically significant. They are the first club from Armenia ever to reach the Europa League's group stage or league phase in any of its formats, a milestone for the country's domestic football that goes well beyond this season's results. They were drawn at home to AZ Alkmaar, Sparta Prague, Celje and Torreense, and away to Milan, Red Bull Salzburg, Jagiellonia Białystok and NEC Nijmegen, a schedule that will put a seven-time European champion in front of Armenian fans for the first time in the country's football history.

None of the smaller clubs in this draw are given much hope of finishing in the automatic qualification places, but a heavyweight pool like this one means a shock or two is almost guaranteed somewhere along the way.

2026/27 Europa League schedule: matchday dates to the final

With the pairings confirmed, attention turns to the calendar. The league phase runs across eight matchdays between September 2026 and January 2027, followed by the knockout play-off round and the rest of the knockout stage through the spring.

Matchday 1: 16 to 17 September 2026
Matchday 2: 15 October 2026
Matchday 3: 22 October 2026
Matchday 4: 5 November 2026
Matchday 5: 26 November 2026
Matchday 6: 10 December 2026
Matchday 7: 21 January 2027
Matchday 8: 28 January 2027
Final: 26 May 2027, Stadion Frankfurt (Waldstadion), Frankfurt, Germany

UEFA had not yet confirmed which of each club's eight fixtures falls on which matchday at the time of the draw, only the pairings themselves and the overall calendar above. That full schedule, including kickoff times, was expected to follow within a couple of days.

FAQ

When and where was the Europa League 2026/27 draw held?

The league phase draw took place on Friday, 28 August 2026, at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, the same venue as the Champions League draw the day before.

How does the Europa League league phase draw work?

All 36 qualified clubs are split into four seeded pots of nine. Each club is drawn against two opponents from each pot, one at home and one away, for eight matches total, the same "Swiss model" system used by the Champions League and Conference League. Clubs from the same national association cannot be paired together.

Which big clubs are in the Europa League instead of the Champions League this season?

Juventus, AC Milan, Benfica and Bayer Leverkusen were all seeded in Pot 1 after missing out on Champions League qualification, giving this year's Europa League an unusually heavyweight top pot.

Who does Marseille play in the 2026/27 Europa League league phase?

Marseille host Olympiacos, Anderlecht, Celta Vigo and Beşiktaş, and travel to Bayer Leverkusen, Celtic, Sturm Graz and Levski Sofia.

Which clubs are playing European football for the first time in 2026/27?

Bournemouth and Torreense are both making their European debuts, while Ararat-Armenia became the first Armenian club ever to reach the Europa League's group stage or league phase.