AlQa'dah 2, 1435, Aug 28, 2014, SPA -- Holders Real Madrid were on Thursday drawn to face Liverpool in the group stage of the Champions League while there are three clashes between German and English clubs. The draw in Monte Carlo, conducted by a string of Real Madrid legends in honor of their 10th title being won in May, put the holders in Group B alongside Liverpool, Basel of Switzerland and Ludogorets Razgrad of Bulgaria. Ludogorets made the group stage thanks to a dramatic penalty shoot-out victory over Steaua Bucharest in the play-offs, which saw a defender save two spot-kicks after their keeper was sent off. Real are seeking to become the first team to retain the Champions League in the modern format while Liverpool return to the competition for the first time in five years. Dortmund's local rivals Schalke are also heading to London to meet Chelsea but with Sporting Lisbon and Maribor, from Slovenia, making up Group G, they will be quietly confident of progressing. Group C is one of the most evenly matched sections with Benfica taking on Zenit St Petersburg, Bayer Leverkusen and Monaco, while in Group H Porto face Shakhtarsk Donetsk, Athletic Bilbao and BATE Borisov from Belarus. The first round of games is scheduled for September 16/17 and the group stage concludes on December 9/10, with the top two from each group advancing into the knock-out stages and the third-place finishers continuing in the Europa League.
