Real Madrid Faces Epic Challenge in Champions League
Real Madrid, with an impressive record of 15 Champions League titles, faces a complicated draw for the upcoming season. The pairings include Premier League giants like Liverpool and Manchester City.
The current champion, Paris Saint-Germain, also has a difficult path to the knockout stage, with matches against Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Tottenham Hotspur, and Newcastle United.
Real Madrid will visit Liverpool in what could be the return to Anfield of Trent Alexander-Arnold, who joined the Spanish club this summer after 20 years at his home club.
The draw also brought other challenging encounters for Real Madrid, who will play against Manchester City and Juventus, as well as matches against Benfica, Marseille, Olympiacos and Kairat Almaty.
Other notable clashes in the league phase, drawn in Monaco, include Chelsea against Barcelona, while Arsenal will face Inter Milan.
In addition to Alexander-Arnold’s possible return to Liverpool, the draw also provides an opportunity for Kevin De Bruyne to return to the Etihad with his new club, Napoli.
This is the second season with the league phase format, with 36 teams that will face eight different opponents and will be classified in a single leaderboard.
The weighted calendar assigned each team two opponents from each of the four classification pots. The teams were ranked according to their performance over five seasons in UEFA competitions.
The matches will begin on September 16th and the last day of the league phase will be January 28th.
The top eight teams in the final standings will advance to the round of 16 in March. They will be joined by the winners of eight play-offs, with teams ranked ninth to 24th, scheduled for February. The last 12 teams will be eliminated.
