Madrid face Liverpool, City in daunting UCL draw
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Aug 28, 2025, 11:41 AM ETRecord 15-time Champions League winners Real Madrid have been given a daunting draw for this season's competition after being handed matchups against Premier League giants Liverpool and Manchester City on Thursday.
Defending champions Paris Saint-Germain also face a tough journey in order to make it to the knockout phase with matchups against the champions of Spain, Barcelona, and German champions Bayern Munich as well as Premier League sides Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United.
Madrid will visit English champions Liverpool in what could be a first return to Anfield for Trent Alexander-Arnold, who joined the Spanish giants this summer after 20 years at his boyhood club.
- UEFA Champions League draw as it happened
That is far from the only challenging fixture for Madrid, who also host 2023 Champions League winners Man City and Juventus, Benfica, Marseille, Olympiacos, Monaco as well as a long journey to Kazakhstan's Kairat Almaty.
Other high-profile league-phase fixtures drawn in Monaco on Thursday, include two-time winners Chelsea hosting Barcelona, while last year's semifinalists Arsenal will face the beaten finalists in May, Inter Milan.
As well as Alexander-Arnold heading back to Liverpool, the draw also threw up the chance for Man City legend Kevin De Bruyne to return to the Etihad with his new club Napoli.
This is the second season of the league phase format with 36 teams playing eight different opponents and ranked in a single-standings table.
The weighted schedule gave each team two opponents drawn from each of the four seeding pots.
16 and the final league phase matchday is Jan.
28.
The top eight teams in the final standings advance to the round of 16 in March.
Joining them will be winners of eight knockout playoffs, featuring teams ranked ninth to 24th, scheduled in February.