MONACO: Champions Real Madrid will play Borussia Dortmund in the league phase of the Champions League in what will be a repeat of last season’s final after the draw for the new-look 36-team tournament.

Clubs will no longer playing three teams home and away in the group phase, but will face eight different teams with four games at home and four away which were picked with the help of a computer.

With clubs facing two teams each from the four pots, the draw threw up plenty of mouth-watering fixtures with Real also set to play former champions Liverpool and AC Milan in the league phase.

Premier League champions Manchester City will face Inter Milan — a repeat of the 2023 final — Paris St Germain and Juventus while Bayern Munich are up against PSG and Barcelona among others. Apart from Real, Liverpool also take on RB Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan.

New Barcelona boss Hansi Flick has his hands full with the Spanish team set to face the two German giants — his former club Bayern Munich and Dortmund.

The draw was conducted with the help of the competition’s all-time top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo and former goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who were both given special awards by UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin.

The order of matches will be confirmed on Saturday, after the Europa League and Conference League draws have been made. Teams cannot play another from the same country in the league phase.

The expanded 36-team tournament sees each team play eight games – four at home and four away – in the league system, against two opponents from each of the four seeding pots.

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

Whoever finishes 25th or lower will be eliminated and will not be entered into the Europa League.

The number of matches in the new format will increase from 125 to 189. Each team will play a minimum of eight games – instead of six – and a maximum of 17.

Champions League action begins on 17-19 September, and with the increased number of fixtures, the league phase runs until 29 January rather than finishing before Christmas.

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