The highly anticipated Champions League draw has taken place, unveiling exciting matchups for the league phase.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Gianluigi Buffon assisted UEFA delegates in the draw, which features a new format with 36 teams in a single league.
Real Madrid will face Liverpool, while Manchester City and 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. The German team has two Nigerians, Victor Boniface and Nathan Tella on their roster.
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).
READ ALSO: Colombia 2024: Nigeria’s Falconets arrive World Cup base
New Format
The new format features a single league with 36 teams, each 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, with fixtures beginning on 16 September.
Read the full article here


