Liverpool and Man City draw Real in Champions League

Real Madrid's Trent Alexander-Arnold faces a return to Anfield after leaving Liverpool for the Spanish giants this summer

Both Liverpool and Manchester City will face 15-time winners Real Madrid in the league phase of the Champions League, while Tottenham and Newcastle must both play holders Paris St-Germain.

The 36-team league - introduced last season - will see six Premier League teams in action for the first time, but they can not face each other until the knockout stages.

As well as coming up against Trent Alexander-Arnold and Real at Anfield, six-time winners Liverpool face Atletico Madrid and beaten finalists Inter Milan in their eight games, with Pep Guardiola's City taking on Napoli and Borussia Dortmund.

Chelsea face giants Barcelona and Bayern Munich while Arsenal also play Harry Kane's Bayern and Inter.

Newcastle's return to the competition includes a trip to St James' Park for Barcelona, while Tottenham - who qualified by winning the Europa League - play Dortmund and Monaco.

The first matches will be played on Tuesday, 16 September and the last round of league games take place on 28 January 2026, with exact scheduling to follow in the coming days.

This season's final will be held in Budapest.

Who the Premier League sides will face

Liverpool: Real Madrid (home), Inter Milan (away), Atletico Madrid (home), Eintracht Frankfurt (away), PSV Eindhoven (home), Marseille (away), Qarabag (home) and Galatasaray (away).

Manchester City: Borussia Dortmund (home), Real Madrid (away), Bayer Leverkusen (home), Villarreal (away), Napoli (home), Bodo/Glimt (away), Galatasaray (home) and Monaco (away).

Chelsea: Barcelona (home), Bayern Munich (away), Benfica (home), Atalanta (away), Ajax (home), Napoli (away), Pafos (home) and Qarabag (away)

Arsenal: Bayern Munich (home), Inter Milan (away), Atletico Madrid (away), Club Brugge (home), Olympiacos (away), Slavia Prague (home), Kairat Almaty (away) and Athletic Bilbao (home).

Tottenham: Borussia Dortmund (home), Paris St-Germain (away), Villarreal (home), Eintracht Frankfurt (away), Slavia Prague (home), Bodo/Glimt (away) Copenhagen (home) and Monaco (away).

Newcastle: Barcelona (home), Paris St-Germain (away), Benfica (home), Bayer Leverkusen (away), PSV (home), Marseille (away), Athletic Bilbao (home) and Union SG (away).

Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea and Newcastle secured their spots with top-five Premier League finishes. Tottenham sealed their place by winning the Europa League.

Sixth-placed Aston Villa had to settle for the Europa League, along with Nottingham Forest. FA Cup winners Crystal Palace are in the Conference League, having been demoted from the Europa League over multi-club ownership rules.

Celtic and Rangers both missed out on qualifying for the main draw.

Who got the luck of the draw?

Based on the average Uefa coefficient of their opponents, PSV Eindhoven have been handed the toughest draw in the league phase. Not only do they face the champions of England, Germany and Italy – Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Napoli – but they will also play two of the top three seeds from Pot 2 in Bayer Leverkusen and Atletico Madrid.

Manchester City and Liverpool have also been given a fairly tough gauntlet of games, with both sides drawn against 15-time winners Real Madrid. Pep Guardiola's side will also play Bayer Leverkusen and Napoli as well as two of the top seeds from Pot 4 in Galatasaray and Monaco. Arne Slot's side will play last year's finalists Inter and Atletico Madrid.

Atalanta will likely be the happiest club following the draw after being given the most favourable fixtures. While they do have to face champions Paris St-Germain and Club World Cup champions Chelsea, they were also drawn against the two lowest seeds in Pot 2 – Eintracht Frankfurt and Club Brugge – as well as two of the three lowest seeds in Pot 3 in Slavia Prague and Marseille.

Both north London clubs should also be fairly happy with the draw. While they do have to play Bayern Munich, Inter and Atletico Madrid, Arsenal were otherwise drawn against low-seeded teams in Pots 2, 3 and 4, including Celtic's Kazakh conquerors Kairat Almaty. Tottenham also received favourable draws in terms of opponents from Pots 2 and 3, avoiding the likes of Leverkusen, Atletico Madrid and Napoli.

How does the league format work?

Each of the 36 teams plays eight different teams - four at home and four away - in the league phase.

Teams who finish in the top eight automatically qualify for the last 16, while those placing ninth to 24th will compete in a two-legged knockout play-off for the chance to join them.

Sides who finish 25th or lower will be eliminated - and will not drop into the Europa League.

Last season Liverpool topped the table with 21 points, while Arsenal and Aston Villa also made the top eight.

Celtic, Newcastle and Manchester City progressed to the play-off round, as did 24th-placed Club Brugge with just 11 points.

Watch highlights of every Champions League game from 22:00 on Wednesday on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.

There will also be a Champions League Match of the Day on BBC One on Wednesday, from 22:40 to 00:00.