Real Madrid will face Liverpool and Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League, while Barcelona will take on Bayern Munich.

Aug. 29, 2024, 6:36 p.m.

Read time estimation: 3 minutes.

  10

Monaco: Holders Real Madrid will face Liverpool away and host Borussia Dortmund in a repeat of last season’s final in the league stage of the new-look Champions League, the draw for which took place on Thursday.

Every team will play eight games against eight different opponents in the new format of Europe’s elite club competition, with all 36 clubs now pooled together into one league rather than split into groups. Madrid, who have signed France superstar Kylian Mbappe since winning a record-extending 15th European Cup, will also notably play AC Milan at home and will go to Atalanta.

Advertisement As it happened | UEFA Champions League draw Real beat last season’s Europa League winners Atalanta in the UEFA Super Cup in Warsaw earlier this month. Liverpool, who are back in the Champions League after a one-season absence, will also notably meet Milan and take on tournament debutants Girona.

The defending champions' opponents for the league phase 🧐#UCLdraw pic.twitter.com/EtK8RuiElx

— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) August 29, 2024 However, supporters of the Anfield club will perhaps be most excited about the prospect of hosting German champions Bayer Leverkusen, coached by former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso.

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, winners of the competition in 2023, will play at home to Italian champions Inter Milan and go to both Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus. However, they were also handed more comfortable opponents including Club Brugge, Sparta Prague and Slovan Bratislava, who have never played in the modern Champions League proper.

UEFA Champions League | How the tournament is different this year

Other key matchups include Bayern Munich against PSG and Barcelona, and Arsenal against Inter and Paris. The number of teams in the Champions League has increased from 32 to 36, with the teams divided into four seeded pots of nine for the draw.

Advertisement A trip to Barcelona for Bayern München 💥

Taking a closer look at their group stage opponents 👇#UCLdraw pic.twitter.com/JZImp30E1p

— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) August 29, 2024 Every team faces two teams from each of the four pots, one at home and one away. The first matches will be played on 17, 18 and 19 September.

Advertisement The two extra matchdays in the new group stage will occur in January. At the end of the group stage, the top eight teams out of the 36 will advance directly to the Round of 16. Teams ranked ninth to 24th will compete in a play-off round to determine the remaining eight teams in the Round of 16.

The bottom 12 teams in the group stage will be eliminated, and there will be no relegation to the Europa League. Both the Europa League and Conference League, whose draws will take place on Friday, will now have 36 teams. However, the Conference League will only have six matchdays in the group stage.

Advertisement