Reigning Champions League champions Paris Saint-Germain are set to face Bayern Munich and Barcelona in this season’s league phase. Meanwhile, record 15-time winners Real Madrid will clash with Manchester City and Liverpool, following Thursday’s draw that promises thrilling matchups.
PSG will also compete against Premier League teams Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United, alongside Atalanta and Bayer Leverkusen, in the new league phase format, which began last season. Each club plays eight games: four at home and four away.
Real Madrid will once again meet Manchester City for the fifth consecutive season and will travel to Liverpool, marking a return for Trent Alexander-Arnold, the English fullback who transferred from Anfield to Real in the off-season.
Real is also set to take on Juventus at home, and will journey to Eastern Europe to face Kazakhstan’s Kairat Almaty, who shocked Celtic in the playoffs to qualify for the first time.
Liverpool, last season’s league phase leaders, will face Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, and Eintracht Frankfurt, while Bayern will play against Chelsea, Arsenal, and Club Brugge.
Pep Guardiola’s City will host Dortmund, Leverkusen, and Napoli, along with trips to Spain to challenge Real and Villarreal.
Inter Milan, last season’s runners-up, will host Liverpool and Arsenal, and will travel to Borussia Dortmund and Atletico Madrid.
Barcelona, current LaLiga champions and last year’s semifinalists, will host PSG, with away matches against Chelsea and Newcastle.
Arsenal, semifinalists last season, will also face Atletico Madrid and Club Brugge, with their biggest challenge being Bayern, whom they have faced 14 times in the competition, failing to win in their last five meetings.
The Premier League boasts the most participants, with six clubs: Liverpool, Arsenal, City, Chelsea, and Newcastle qualifying, alongside Europa League winners Tottenham.
Spurs will face Borussia Dortmund and Villarreal, as well as PSG, while Serie A champions Napoli will compete against Chelsea, Man City, Frankfurt, and Benfica.
Newcastle returns to the Champions League but faces a challenging path to the knockout stage after being placed in pot four, drawing Barca, PSG, Benfica, and Leverkusen among their opponents.
The league phase kicks off with 36 teams playing across eight matchdays between September 16 and January 28. The knockout phase begins in February, with the final scheduled for May 30 at the Puskas Arena in Budapest.
Chelsea received a special award for being the first club to win the Champions League, Europa League, Conference League, Super Cup, and the now-defunct UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup.
Former Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic was honored with the UEFA President’s Award.
