Premier League teams in UEFA Champions League: Ranking the easiest, hardest league phase draws

Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United, Aston Villa and Liverpool all found out who they're set to face in the league phase of the 2026-27 UEFA Champions League on Thursday, with varying degrees of satisfaction. MORE — Champions League draw results On the whole, the draw wasn't particularly kind to the Premier League's five representatives. But, spoiler alert: We still think all five PL sides will get through to the knockout rounds, even if it won't be smooth sailing for one or two of them. Liverpool Difficulty rating : 4/10 Inter Milan (A) should be the toughest test for Andoni Iraola's side during the league phase, but it's one that they took and passed with a 1-0 victory at the San Siro last season under Arne Slot. Facing Atletico Madrid (home or away) is always tricky, but the Reds should take a minimum of 10 points from their home games and put themselves in a strong position to finish top-eight and earn a bye into the round of 16. Predicted finish : 5th of 36 teams Home Away Atletico Madrid Inter Milan Porto Club Brugge Villarreal Fenerbahce Lens LASK Arsenal Difficulty rating : 6/10 Vinicius Junior is in for an interesting reception when Real Madrid come to north London after he spurned the Gunners this summer and Harry Kane will hardly roll out the red carpet when Arsenal visit Bavaria, but the swing toward an easier draw comes from hosting Borussia Dortmund out of Pot 2 rather than having to travel to the Westfalenstadion. Instead, they got Real Betis (A) in Pot 2 and that's a great result for Mikel Arteta's side, even if it is somewhat negated by drawing Napoli (A) from Pot 3. Predicted finish : 2nd Home Away Real Madrid Bayern Munich Borussia Dortmund Real Betis Lille Napoli Sabah Slavia Prage Manchester United Difficulty rating : 7/10 The positive spin: Three of Man United's five toughest games are at Old Trafford. The not-so-positive: They're still going to be tough games to win; they still have to go to Atleti and Sporting CP, semifinalists and quarterfinalists last season; and no one has any idea what to expect from tiny Como, with their deep pockets and Cesc Fabregas at the helm. Predicted finish : 12th Home Away Bayern Munich Atletico Madrid Roma Sporting CP RB Leipzig Villarreal Sabah Como Aston Villa Difficulty rating : 8/10 Well, welcome back to the Champions League. Hosting reigning European champions PSG at Villa Park will certainly be a night to remember, but one which probably won't produce (m)any points for Unai Emery and Co. Same goes for the trip to the Camp Nou to face Barcelona (A). Like Arsenal, Dortmund (H) is better than Dortmund (A), but still a mighty tough test. Trips to Turkey are never, ever fun, making Pot 3 about as tricky as can be on top of the titans at the top. Fortunately, a cushy reprieve from Pot 4. Predicted finish : 14th Home Away PSG Barcelona Borussia Dortmund Club Brugge Fenerbahce Galatasaray Viking Slavia Prague Manchester City Difficulty rating : 8.5/10 Brutal, just brutal. PSG and Barcelona speak for themselves in name alone, but let us not forget that Sporting CP finished 7th in the league phase and gave Arsenal everything they wanted (and some) last season. Then there's the double whammy of drawing both Napoli and RB Leipzig, the two teams you most wanted to avoid out of Pot 3, so there's five games right off the bat in which Enzo Maresca's side could conceivably drop points. Predicted finish : 11th Home Away PSG Barcelona Sporting CP Porto Napoli RB Leipzig AEK Athens Lens