Borussia Dortmund to face Real Madrid, Barcelona in UEFA Champions League group stage

Borussia Dortmund's opponents for the group stage of the newly revamped UEFA Champions League have been revealed, with Nuri Sahin's side set to face both Real Madrid and FC Barcelona.

A rematch of last season's UEFA Champions League final is the pick of Borussia Dortmund's ties of the group stage. The Black and Yellows will head to the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium to take on Jude Bellingham and Real Madrid, and will hope to avenge their CL final defeat.

A home game against Hansi Flick and FC Barcelona at the Westfalenstadion also lies in store for BVB in the Champions League group stage.

Borussia Dortmund's opponents for the league phase of the UEFA Champions League

Other opponents that lie in store for Borussia Dortmund during the UEFA Champions League group stage include Bologna (away), Shakhtar Donetsk (home), Club Brugge (away), and Celtic (home). Nuri Sahin's side will also take on Dinamo Zagreb (away) and Sturm Graz (home). The exact schedule of the matches will be revealed later this week.

All 36 teams will play eight matches in the UEFA Champions League group stage (instead of six) thanks to a reform to the format of the competition.

It will certainly be interesting to see how the revamped UEFA Champions League group stage works out this season. Instead of being divided into groups, all 36 teams will be ranked in a joint league. The top eight sides in the league at the end of the phase will qualify automatically for the knockout stage, while the teams that finish in the 9th to 24th place will compete in a two-legged play-off in order to qualify for the round of 16.

The league phase of the 2024/25 UEFA Champions League will get underway on September 17, 2024.