- Premier League sides have found out who they will face in Champions League
- This season marks the debut of a new league format in the UEFA competition
Premier League teams have found out who they will be facing in the revamped Champions League format for the 2024-25 campaign.
Unlike previous tournaments, UEFA has scrapped the group stage format for the competition and has increased the total number of clubs participating from 32 to 36.
Instead of the traditional format of clubs being separated into groups, participating clubs will instead now take part in a league format where they will play eight teams in a bid to earn their way into the knockout phase.
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Unlike previous iterations of the competition, teams will no longer filter into the Europa League, with only the 16 highest-ranked teams progressing. Teams from the same nation also cannot be drawn against each other during the initial league phase.
Gianluigi Buffon and Cristiano Ronaldo were on hand to conduct the draw, which was completed using AI technology in another first for the competition.
The first team to be drawn from pot one in the new format were Manchester City, with Pep Guardiola’s side facing Inter Milan (H), PSG (A). Club Brugge (H), Juventus (A), Feyenoord (H), Sporting Lisbon (A), Sparta Prague (H) and Slovan Bratislava (A).
Liverpool meanwhile will take on Real Madrid (H), RB Leipzig (A), Bayer Leverkusen (H), AC Milan (A), Lille (H), PSV (A), Bologna (H), and Girona (A).
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal will face the likes of PSG (H), Inter Milan (A), Shakhtar Donetsk (H), Atalanta (A), Dinamo Zagreb (H), Sporting Lisbon (A), Monaco (H) and Girona (A),
Meanwhile, Harry Kane is set to return to a Premier League ground as Aston Villa will host Bayern Munich at Villa Park.
In addition to the Bavarian club, Villa fans can also look forward to clashes with RB Leipzig (A), Juventus (H), Club Brugge (A), Celtic (H), Young Boys (A), Bologna (H), and Monaco (A).
It is important to note that the order in which the teams were drawn will not necessarily correspond with the order the games will be played
A full schedule including the dates of all fixtures is set to be announced on Saturday.
Daily Mail UK
