Trent Alexander-Arnold didn’t waste any time responding after discovering he would be making a return to Anfield with Real Madrid during the Champions League group stage, following the draw that paired Los Blancos with his former club, Liverpool.
The 26-year-old defender departed Liverpool after helping them win the 2024/25 Premier League title, joining Real Madrid earlier this summer. In June, he was officially presented as a Real Madrid player after the Spanish club paid around £8.5 million to terminate his contract with Liverpool early, allowing him to take part in the Club World Cup.
Since moving to Madrid, Alexander-Arnold has made seven competitive appearances and recorded two assists. Upon arriving in the Spanish capital, the England international made it clear that his motivation was to “win a lot of trophies and be a champion.”
Real Madrid, the most successful club in Champions League history with 15 titles, is a fitting destination for such ambitions. However, last season ended without silverware for the Spanish side, who were knocked out by Arsenal in the quarter-finals with a 5-1 aggregate defeat. Now managed by former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso, Madrid faces tough English competition again in the new-look 36-team, eight-match league phase.
Manchester City, coached by Pep Guardiola, will visit the Santiago Bernabéu, while Real Madrid will head to Anfield to face Liverpool. These two sides last met at Anfield in the previous season’s group stage, where Liverpool claimed a 2-0 victory with goals from Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo. Alexander-Arnold was on the bench for that match but did not feature.
Fixture dates and kickoff times for the group stage are yet to be confirmed, so the exact timing of Alexander-Arnold’s Anfield return remains unknown. Still, he acknowledged the draw promptly by sharing a graphic of Real Madrid’s group stage fixtures on his Instagram story shortly after the announcement.
2025/26 Champions League Group Stage Fixtures:
Liverpool: vs Real Madrid (H), Inter (A), Atlético Madrid (H), Eintracht Frankfurt (A), PSV (H), Marseille (A), Qarabag (H), Galatasaray (A)
Real Madrid: vs Manchester City (H), Liverpool (A), Juventus (H), Benfica (A), Marseille (H), Olympiakos (A), Monaco (H), Kairat Almaty (A)
Group Stage Matchdays:
Matchday 1: September 16–18, 2025
Matchday 2: September 30 – October 1, 2025
Matchday 3: October 21–22, 2025
Matchday 4: November 4–5, 2025
Matchday 5: November 25–26, 2025
Matchday 6: December 9–10, 2025
Matchday 7: January 20–21, 2026
Matchday 8: January 28, 2026
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