The Independent
·29 August 2024
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Yahoo sportsThe Independent
·29 August 2024
Arsenal will take on European giants PSG and Inter Milan in the brand new league phase of the Champions League.
The Gunners will also take on Shakhtar Donetsk, Atalanta, Dinamo Zagreb, Sporting CP, Monaco and Girona in the new league stage where teams will have eight fixtures.
Liverpool will host Real Madrid in a spectacular encounter at Anfield and will take on RB Leipzig away from home. They will also host Bayer Leverkusen and travel to the San Siro to face AC Milan.
Manchester City face PSG and Juventus away from home as well as Inter Milan at the Etihad in their most eye-catching matches.
Celtic have been handed a decent draw, hosting RB Leipzig and Club Brugge and will travel to Borussia Dortmund, Atalanta and Villa.
Each team will play four games at home and four games away for a total of eight fixtures, two more than under the previous format. These eight encounters will be with eight different opponents.
The full match dates and times for the league phase - which starts on 17 September and ends on 29 January - will be released on Saturday.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Gianluigi Buffon – honoured with individual awards beforehand – were involved in the draw in Monaco on Thursday night.
Liverpool face Real Madrid in a repeat of the 2022 Champions League final (Getty Images)
This new era of the Champions League will see four more teams compete in the new league phase. Instead of 32 competing sides being divided into eight groups of four, all 36 teams in this year’s Champions League will form a single league.
The top eight sides in the league after the competition’s first phase will progress directly to the last-16.
Teams placed ninth to 24th will have to negotiate a play-off round, while teams that finish 25th or lower will be eliminated from all European competition.
Manchester City: Inter Milan (H), PSG (A), Club Brugge (H), Juventus (A), Feyenoord (H), Sporting CP (A), Sparta Prague (H), Slovan Bratislava (A)
Liverpool: Real Madrid (H), RB Leipzig (A), Bayer Leverkusen (H), AC Milan (A), Lille (H), PSV (A), Bologna (H), Girona (A)
Arsenal: PSG (H), Inter Milan (A), Shakhtar Donestk (H), Atalanta (A), Dinamo Zagreb (H), Sporting CP (A), Monaco (H), Girona (A)