The teams will meet on 8 September in Madrid. For Inter, this will be yet another encounter with one of their most difficult opponents in recent years. In their last four Champions League matches against the Madrid side, the Italian club have lost every time.
That said, the two teams have started the new season in very different ways. Inter have made a confident start to the Italian league, whilst Real have already dropped points. Now the Madrid side face a test on the European stage.
Manchester City set to begin a new era
Another intriguing match on the opening day is Porto v Manchester City. For the first time in a long while, the English club are approaching the Champions League without Josep Guardiola. Enzo Maresca has taken charge of the team.
The new manager has got off to a flying start: City have won all three of their opening Premier League matches. Porto have also made a strong start to the season and are yet to drop any points in the Portuguese league.
Club Brugge and Aston Villa are set to face each other again
The match in Bruges will feature two sides who know each other well from last season’s competition. Club Brugge beat the English side in the group stage, but Aston Villa then took their revenge in the round of 16.
Now the rivals are set to meet again in the new season. The Belgians have made a confident start to their domestic league campaign, whilst the English club has been given the chance to make amends for a less-than-ideal start.
Three days of ‘football feasting’
On the second day of the first round, 9 September, Barcelona will take to the pitch. The Spanish club will host Feyenoord.
Hans-Dieter Flick’s side have made a strong start to the season and, as usual, are focusing on attacking football. The Dutch side are also going into the match unbeaten in the league.
Reigning Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain will begin their title defence with a match against Slovan Bratislava. The Parisians have had a busy start to the season, whilst the Slovakian club fought their way through the qualifying rounds to reach the group stage.
The managerial aspect adds a particular element of interest to the fixture. Slovan are managed by Yaya Touré – a former player for Barcelona and Manchester City.
Another high-profile fixture on the second matchday is Liverpool v Atlético. The English club will kick off their new European campaign with a home match against the Madrid side.
In addition, on 9 September, Napoli will face Arsenal, Sporting will take on Galatasaray, and Stuttgart will play Norwegian side Viking.
On the final day of the first round, 10 September, the fixtures will be Bayern v Bude-Glimt, Manchester United v Sabah, Como v Leipzig, Fenerbahçe v Roma and PSV v Shakhtar.
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