Champions League: Alexander-Arnold returns to Anfield

4 Minutes ReadWatch on Rediff-TV Listen to Article
Share:

Last updated on: August 29, 2025 01:21 IST

x

Mouth-watering matches lined up as PSG to face Bayern and Barcelona in Champions League opening stage.

Real Madrid will play Manchester City again for a fifth consecutive season and make a trip to Liverpool in what will be a homecoming for Trent Alexander-Arnold

IMAGE: Real Madrid will play Manchester City again for a fifth consecutive season and make a trip to Liverpool in what will be a homecoming for Trent Alexander-Arnold. Photograph: Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters

Champions League holders Paris St Germain will play Bayern Munich and Barcelona in this season's league phase while record 15-times winners Real Madrid will face Manchester City and Liverpool after Thursday's draw set up some blockbuster encounters.

PSG will also meet Premier League sides Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United along with Atalanta and Bayer Leverkusen in the new league phase format which started last season, where each club plays eight games -- four at home and four on the road.

 

Real Madrid will play Manchester City again for a fifth consecutive season and make a trip to Liverpool in what will be a homecoming for Trent Alexander-Arnold, the English fullback who left Anfield to join Real in the close season.

Real also take on Juventus at home while they have a long flight to Eastern Europe in store when they take on Kazakhstan side Kairat Almaty, who stunned Celtic in the playoffs to qualify for the first time.

Last season's league phase table toppers Liverpool will also face Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt, while Bayern play Chelsea, Arsenal and Club Brugge.

Pep Guardiola's City host Dortmund, Leverkusen and Napoli while they make two trips to Spain to face Real and Villarreal.

Last season's runners-up Inter Milan host Liverpool and Arsenal, and the Italian side will travel to Borussia Dortmund and Atletico Madrid.

Barcelona, LaLiga champions and last year's semi-finalists, host PSG and face away games at Chelsea and Newcastle.

Arsenal, semi-finalists last season, also play Atletico Madrid and Club Brugge but their biggest opponents are Bayern, who they have faced 14 times in the competition. They have also failed to beat the German side in the last five encounters.

SIX ENGLISH CLUBS

The UEFA Champions League trophy is displayed ahead of the draw in Monaco on Thursday

IMAGE: The UEFA Champions League trophy is displayed ahead of the draw in Monaco on Thursday. Photograph: Stephane Mahe/Reuters

The Premier League has the most representatives with six clubs after last season's top five -- Liverpool, Arsenal, City, Chelsea and Newcastle -- qualified along with Europa League winners Tottenham.

Spurs will play Borussia Dortmund and Villarreal as well as PSG while Serie A champions Napoli face Chelsea, Man City, Frankfurt and Benfica.

Newcastle returned to the Champions League but have a tough path to the knockout phase after they were placed in pot four, drawing Barca, PSG, Benfica and Leverkusen among the teams they will face.

The league phase gets underway with the 36 teams playing on eight matchdays between September 16 and January 28. The knockout phase begins in February while the final will be played on May 30 at the Puskas Arena in Budapest.

Former footballer Zlatan Ibrahimovic receives the UEFA President's Cup ahead of the UEFA Champions League draw on Thursday

IMAGE: Former footballer Zlatan Ibrahimovic receives the UEFA President's Cup ahead of the UEFA Champions League draw on Thursday. Photograph: Stephane Mahe/Reuters

Chelsea were honoured with a special award for becoming the first club to win the Champions League, the Europa League, the Conference League, the Super Cup and the now-defunct UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. Former Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic was named the winner of the UEFA President's Award.

The award was given to the 43-year-old legend for his "exemplary achievements on and off the pitch" in a senior career spanning from 1999 to 2023.

Taking to their official X handle, UEFA posted, "Zlatan Ibrahimovic is the winner of the 2025 UEFA President's Award, which recognises exemplary achievements on and off the pitch."

Ibrahimovic scored 511 goals in 866 club games as well as 62 goals in 122 games for his country. Ibrahimovic started his journey at Malmo FF in 1999 after leaving for Ajax Amsterdam in 2001. He then commenced a career that has included leading European teams, including Barcelona, Manchester United, Inter Milan, Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan.

He won top-tier titles like La Liga with Barcelona, Ligue 1 with PSG, Series A with Inter Milan and AC Milan. However, a Premier League win in the UK and a UEFA Champions League title eluded him.

Sweden's all-time top scorer with 62 goals in 121 matches, Ibrahimovic quit the national team after Euro 2016 but returned in 2021 for their unsuccessful World Cup qualifying campaign.

Share: