Champions League draw simulator: Liverpool and Man United handed brutal away trips in nightmare scenario

The Champions League draw has been simulated and it has created an absolute nightmare scenario for some Premier League sides.

With the first domestic fixtures now out of the way for clubs across the continent, football fans are now looking ahead to the start of European competitions next month.

Of course, the most exciting of these competitions is the Champions League, with the first matches kicking off from September 8-10.

Ahead of the opening fixtures, the league phase draw for the 2026/27 Champions League will take place on Thursday in Monaco from 5pm BST.

In total 36 teams will feature the competition this season, including five English sides, with each of them playing playing fixtures against eight different teams - two teams from Pots 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Premier League sides Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Aston Villa and Man United will each play four games at home and four away, but cannot face each other at this stage of the competition.

For the third season of this new format, the draw will be done by a supercomputer, which will automatically select each club' eight opponents, accounting for any restrictions, at the simple press of a button.

But before the official draw took place, we put out own supercomputer to work to simulate the Champions League draw, and it wasn't good reading for Liverpool and Man United fans.

Liverpool

Feyenoord (A)

Club Brugge (H)

Paris Saint-Germain (A)

Borussia Dortmund (A)

Stuttgart (H)

Inter Milan (A)

AEK Athens (A)

Villarreal (H)

The simulated draw handed Liverpool an away trip to ex-manager Arne Slot's former club Feyenoord in their opening match, with the standout fixture no doubt being a brutal away trip to the Parc des Princes to face Paris Saint-Germain.

PSG are chasing their third successive Champions League title this season, and remain the firm favourites to do so given their wealth of talent across the pitch.

READ MORE: UEFA block one Liverpool fixture in Champions League this season as little-known rule revealed

Arsenal

Sabah (H)

Real Madrid (A)

Fenerbahçe (A)

Porto (H)

Como (A)

Napoli (H)

PSV (A)

Atlético Madrid (H)

Reigning Premier League champions Arsenal would begin their Champions League push by welcoming Azerbaijani side Sabah, who were founded just nine years ago in September 2017, to the Emirates.

The simulation handed Arsenal a relatively straight forward league phase, with a rematch of the fiery 2025 quarter-final clash with Real Madrid the standout match.

Manchester United

AEK Athens (A)

Slavia Prague (H)

Sporting CP (H)

Napoli (A)

Roma (A)

Fenerbahçe (H)

Bayern Munich (H)

Paris Saint-Germain (A)

Like Liverpool, United have been handed a difficult away trip against the defending champions PSG in their simulated league phase draw.

Overall, the Red Devils have been handed a tough draw for their Champions League return, with clashes against Sporting, Napoli, Roma and Bayern Munich all providing opportunities for United to suffer a shock early exit from the Champions League this season.

Manchester City

Shakhtar Donetsk (H)

Porto (A)

Real Betis (H)

Inter Milan (H)

Atlético Madrid (A)

Galatasaray (A)

Slavia Prague (H)

Sabah (A)

Conspiracy theorists would be happy with this simulated draw for Manchester City as Enzo Maresca's side has been given another relatively comfortable journey through the opening Champions League stage.

Aston Villa

LASK (A)

Stuttgart (H)

Lille (H)

PSV (A)

Bodø/Glimt (A)

Club Brugge (H)

Barcelona (H)

Bayern Munich (A)

Finally, Aston Villa have been given a mixed draw in the simulation for their Champions League return after winning last season's Europa League.

Fixtures against LASK, Stuttgart and Lille offer a relatively generous start for Unai Emery's side, but a brutal away trip to Norway to face Bodø/Glimt ahead of back-to-back clashes against Barcelona and Bayern Munich could prove to be a challenging end for the Villains.

Who is in each pot?

Although four places are yet to be determined by qualifiers, 32 teams have been confirmed for the draw.

Each of the four pots are allocated based on UEFA's club coefficient rankings, which is determined based on results in European competitions across a five-year period ending with last season.

Pot 1

• PSG
• Bayern Munich
• Real Madrid
• Liverpool
• Inter Milan
• Manchester City
• Arsenal
• Barcelona
• Atletico Madrid

Pot 2

• Aston Villa
• Manchester United
• Borussia Dortmund
• Roma
• Sporting
• Porto
• Club Brugge
• PSV Eindhoven
• Real Betis

Pot 3

• Feyenoord
• Lille
• Napoli
• RB Leipzig
• Villarreal
• Shakhtar Donetsk
• Galatasaray

Pot 3 or 4 - to be decided

• Bodo/Glimt
• LASK Linz
• Sabah
• Slavia Prague
• Stuttgart
• Como
• Lens
• Winner of Fenerbahce vs Lyon
• Winner of Dinamo Zagreb vs Viking
• Winner of Slovan Bratislava vs Celje
• Winner of Levski Sofia vs AEK Athens

Champions League 2026/27 schedule

Matchday 1: September 8-10

Matchday 2: October 13/14

Matchday 3: October 20/21

Matchday 4: November 3/4

Matchday 5: November 24/25

Matchday 6: December 8/9

Matchday 7: January 19/20

Matchday 8: January 27

Knockout phase play-offs: February 16/17 and 23/24

Round of 16: March 9/10 and 16/17

Quarter-finals: April 6/7 and 13/14

Semi-finals: April 27/28 and May 4/5

Final: June 5