Lee Kang-in. [Yonhap]
Lee Kang-in. [Yonhap]

A Korean derby is set for the UEFA Champions League, with Bayern Munich's Kim Min-jae and Atletico Madrid's Lee Kang-in drawn to face each other in the league phase.

The 36 teams that qualified for the UCL were divided into four seeding pots of nine teams each. Every club will play eight matches in total, facing two opponents from each pot.

Teams finishing first through eighth in the league phase advance directly to the round of 16, while those ranked ninth through 24th enter a playoff round for the remaining spots.

Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich, both placed in Pot 1, were drawn against each other in the league phase.

Lee left defending champion Paris Saint-Germain to join Atletico Madrid for a new challenge and will now face Kim, who anchors Bayern Munich's defense, in the UCL.

Atletico Madrid's league-phase schedule includes Bayern Munich (home), Liverpool (away), Manchester United (home), PSV Eindhoven (away), Fenerbahce (home), Bodo/Glimt (away), Viking (home) and Stuttgart (away).

Bayern Munich will face Arsenal (home), Atletico Madrid (away), Real Betis (home), Manchester United (away), Bodo/Glimt (home), Lille (away), Slavia Prague (home) and Viking (away).

Kim Min-jae. [Yonhap]
Kim Min-jae. [Yonhap]

Meanwhile, four South Korean players will feature in this season's UCL league phase.

Hwang In-beom of Porto and Lee Han-beom of Club Brugge, both assigned to Pot 2, will also compete in the UCL.

Porto's fixtures include Manchester City (home), Liverpool (away), Eindhoven (home), Betis (away), Napoli (home), Feyenoord (away), Slavia Prague (home) and LASK (away).

Hwang will face his former club Feyenoord as an opponent.

Club Brugge are drawn against Liverpool (home), Inter Milan (away), Aston Villa (home), Eindhoven (away), Bodo/Glimt (home), Napoli (away), RC Lens (home) and Stuttgart (away).

The UCL league phase kicks off Sept. 9. Detailed match schedules will be announced later.


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