Liverpool and City face Madrid in UCL

Liverpool and Manchester City will both come up against Real Madrid in this season’s Uefa Champions League while French titleholders Paris Saint-Germain were handed a tough list of opponents in Thursday's draw, including Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

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Xabi Alonso’s Real will play City at home and take on Premier League champions Liverpool at Anfield in what will be two of the standout fixtures of the league phase — and the latter means a quick return to Merseyside for Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Arne Slot's Liverpool, who finished first in the league phase last season only to be eliminated by PSG in the last 16, will also play Atletico Madrid, PSV Eindhoven and Qarabag of Azerbaijan at home.

In addition, they must go to Inter Milan, Eintracht Frankfurt, Marseille and Turkish champions Galatasaray.

“Like last season, it is a very challenging draw, but we knew that it would be,” Slot told Liverpool's official website.

The Reds beat 2024 European champions Real 2-0 at Anfield in the league phase of last season’s competition. The rematch will see Alexander-Arnold go back to face his old team after leaving Liverpool for Madrid in June.

“To be able to welcome Real Madrid to Anfield again is something special,” Slot added.