Arne Slot reacts to Liverpool's Champions League draw with firm Real Madrid warning

Arne Slot insists Liverpool cannot afford to just focus on its Champions League tie with Real Madrid after the draw for the 'league phase' was made on Thursday.

Europe's premier competition has undergone a revamp this season with the group stage replaced. Instead all 36 teams will play eight matches to determine who will progress to the last 16 of the competition.

The standout tie for Liverpool is the visit of Real Madrid to Anfield, with the two teams having faced off in two separate Champions League finals in recent years. The Reds also face a reunion with former midfielder Xabi Alonso, who was linked with the Liverpool job earlier this year before opting to remain with Bayer Leverkusen.

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Lille and Bologna will also travel to Anfield while Liverpool has away matches against RB Leipzig, AC Milan, PSV Eindhoven and Girona. And Slot admits each of the opponents will bring their own challenges.

He told Liverpool's official website: "The first thing to say is it is a very challenging draw but also a very exciting one and more important than anything, we are part of it – which means there is a lot to look forward to and also a lot of work to be done.

"There will be a lot of focus on the fixture against Real Madrid at Anfield, and rightly so because they are the holders of the competition, but at the same time there is so much quality among our other opponents that we will spread our attention evenly and take each game as it comes."

On the other teams in Liverpool's group, Slot added: "PSV is a team I know really well, of course, and – like Bayer Leverkusen – they are champions of their own country, so the standard is very clear and it runs through all of the clubs that we will face. I could talk about each of them and what they will bring but the time to do that is when the fixtures come around.

"For now, we will look forward and, as I said, keep working because there are a lot of games to come in the Premier League and in the Champions League, and the only way to approach them is one at a time."

The fixture dates for those matches will not be confirmed until Saturday. Elsewhere in the draw, Manchester City and Arsenal will both take on Paris Saint-Germain while Aston Villa has landed a huge home tie against Bayern Munich.