UCL Draw wrap – Salah, Hakimi brace up for high-profile UCL fixtures

by Staff Reporter

Friday Aug 30, 2024. 11:00

The draw for the league phase of the newly formed UEFA Champions League took place on Thursday evening, with the likes of Mohamed Salah, Ademola Lookman and Achraf Hakimi set for bumper fixtures across Europe next month.

With the UCL expanded to 36 teams, each club will play eight games against eight different opponents in the league phase.

Teams that finish in the top eight will advance directly into the last 16, while those ranked between 9th and 24th will go through a play-off round to determine the remaining eight places. Clubs that finish in the bottom 12 will be eliminated from the tournament altogether.

That said, Mohamed Salah’s Liverpool will take on the likes of Real Madrid, Bayern Leverkusen and Lille in some of their home fixtures, while they will face RB Leipzig, AC Milan and PSV on their travels.

Moroccan international Achraf Hakimi and his Paris Saint-Germain outfit will lock horns with sides such as Inter Milan, Manchester City and Juventus during the league phase of the showpiece.

The 2024 Europa League winners, Atalanta, who were often inspired by Nigerian star Ademola Lookman last season, will take on teams such as Real Madrid, Arsenal and Celtic on home soil and will subsequently face stern competition in the form of Barcelona and Shakhtar Donetsk in away ties.

Elsewhere, Feyenoord’s Algerian duo of Ramiz Zerrouki and Anis Hadj Moussa will be taking on European giants City, Leverkusen and Bayern Munich during the league stage of the new-look UEFA Champions League competition.