Michael Owen reckons holders Real Madrid will not fancy facing Liverpool at Anfield as they begin their Champions League defence.

The Spanish giants, who beat Borussia Dortmund in last season’s final to secure a record-extending 15th title, start out against VfB Stuttgart on Wednesday. But their mouthwatering trip to Merseyside on November 28 is the fixture many fans are already looking forward to. As the tournament prepares to kick-off, ex-England striker Owen, who starred for both clubs, said: “You'd have to say that Madrid are the team to beat.

“However, Real Madrid won't relish playing Liverpool, they won't enjoy going to Anfield and playing Liverpool. Real Madrid won't enjoy it if they have to play Manchester City either because secretly, they might have got through on a couple of occasions, but secretly, they will know that when they've played City they weren’t necessarily the best team.

"You have to say that Madrid are the favourites going into it, but I don't think Madrid will be relishing playing City or Liverpool at the moment. So I think it'll be a good tournament.”

This season is also the first time the new Champions League format has come into play with the 36 clubs playing eight matches in the new league phase against eight different teams - half at home and half away.

The top eight sides in the table will automatically qualify for the UCL round of 16 with those in ninth to 24th position competing in a two-legged knock-out phase play-offs. In an interview with Genting Casino, Owen added: “The change in Champions League format could be interesting, but I would still suspect that the big teams will come out on top and to get into the knockout stages.

“There's more games this year and the more games there are in any competition, the more I would expect the better teams to come out on top at the end of it. In knockout competition when it's just a one-leg game, it can be home and away. It can be quite fraught - not always the best team win - but the longer the format, the more I would favour the better teams.

“So I've believed that Manchester City have been the best team in Europe for the last few years. However, Manchester City have not won as many European Cups in that time as Real Madrid have.

"I would still argue that in a couple of those times when City have been knocked out by Real Madrid, that Man City were the best team on certain occasions. But we’ve seen the results that Madrid have got in this competition and now having Kylian Mbappe in their team, they're not getting any worse, are they?”