​Champions League playoff draw: Full match schedule for final stage of UEFA tournament qualifying originally appeared on The Sporting News.
Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.The qualification phase for the coming season’s UEFA Champions League has reached the final round.A total of fourteen clubs enter the playoff round for the right to claim a place in the 2026/27 league phase of the tournament.These two-legged ties will take place in August before the draw for the league phase is held on August 27.Below is the full schedule for the playoffs as confirmed on August 3.MORE: Full predictions for this season’s Champions League properChampions League playoff drawThe draw for the 2026/27 Champions League playoffs was held on August 3 at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.Fourteen teams entered this phase of qualifying: 10 via the champions path, and four through the league path. The first path contains teams that entered qualifying after winning their domestic league, while the smaller league path is for those sides who qualified via their domestic league finish in those nations with more than one Champions League place.Champions League playoff draw 2026/27*Seeded teams are in bold. Those seeded teams play their home game in the second leg.Champions League playoff scheduleThe first legs of the playoffs will be held on August 18/19.The second legs take place a week later on August 25 and 26, the day before the draw for the league phase.Can teams drop into the Europa League from the playoffs?Yes. All teams defeated at this stage of Champions League qualifying will drop automatically into the league phase of the Europa League.This is the last such opportunity, though. Once the Champions League league phase begins, no team eliminated at any further stage — for instance, at the end of the league phase, or by losing a knockout playoff — will drop into the Europa League.When is the draw for the Champions League league phase?The league-phase draw will be held the day after the playoff second legs, on August 27. It usually starts at 12 p.m. CET (6 a.m. ET).