The Champions League draw which took place on Thursday, has revealed an exciting matchups for the league phase. This is even as a new dimension has been introduced into the championship.
Two of football greats; Cristiano Ronaldo and Gianluigi Buffon were on hand to assist UEFA delegates in the draw. The Championship featured a new format with 36 teams in a single league. A departure from the 32 teams.
Unveiling the draws, the reigning champions, Real Madrid will face Liverpool. The two teams had met at the finals in more than two occasions, with Liverpool losing their encounter.
England champions, Manchester City and the rejuvenated Arsenal will both take on Paris Saint-Germain.
Manchester City will also play Juventus, and Liverpool will face Bayer Leverkusen, led by former midfielder Xabi Alonso.
Arsenal’s draw includes Inter, Shakhtar Donetsk, Dinamo Zagreb, Sporting, Monaco, Girona and Atalanta which has Super Eagles star Ademola Lookman leading their frontline.
Full EPL Teams’ Draws
Manchester City: Inter Milan (H), PSG (A), Club Brugge (H), Juventus (A), Feyenoord (H), Sporting CP (A), Sparta Praha (H), Slovan Bratislava (A)
Liverpool: Real Madrid (H), RB Leipzig (A), Bayer Leverkusen (H), AC Milan (A), Lille (H), PSV Eindhoven (A), Bologna (H), Girona (A)
Arsenal: PSG (H), Inter (A), Shakhtar (H), Atalanta (A), Dinamo (H), Sporting (A), Monaco (H), Girona (A)
Aston Villa: Bayern Munich (H), RB Leipzig (A), Juventus (H), Club Brugge (A), Celtic (H), Young Boys (A), Bologna (H), Monaco (A).
In addition to champions Real Madrid, here are the respective draws for Barcelona, Bayern, and PSG.
Real Madrid: Borussia Dortmund (H), Liverpool (A), AC Milan (H), Atalanta (A), Salzburg (H), Lille (A), Stuttgart (H), Brest (A).
Barcelona: Bayern Munich (H), Borussia Dortmund (A), Atalanta (H), Benfica (A), Young Boys (H), Crvena Zvezda (A), Brest (H), Monaco (A).
Bayern Munich: PSG (H), Barcelona (A), Benfica (H), Shakhtar Donetsk (A), Dinamo Zagreb (H), Feyenoord (A), Slovan Bratislava (H), Aston Villa (A).
PSG: Man City (H), Bayern Munich (A), Atletico Madrid (H), Arsenal (A), PSV (H), Salzburg (A), Girona (H), Stuttgart (A).
New Format
The new format features of the championship is a single league with 36 teams. With each team playing four home and four away matches.
The top eight teams will automatically advance to the last 16, while teams placed 9th to 24th will participate in a round of play-offs.
UEFA will publish the match calendar on Saturday, August 31. While the fixtures will begin on September 16.
source: Premium Times
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