Liverpool and Man City draw Real in Champions League

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 taking place on 28 January 2026, with exact scheduling to follow in the coming days.

This season's final will be held in Budapest.

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).

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.