Champions League draw: Liverpool host Real Madrid, other fixtures in new-look format

SPORTING TRIBUNE

Liverpool will face Real Madrid while Aston Villa and Celtic meet in an all-British affair

Arsenal will face Inter Milan, Paris Saint-Germain and Atalanta among their eight opening fixtures in the first stage of the new-look Champions League.

The revamped format sees all 36 teams forming a single league, with each entrant four home games and four away.

The top eight will go straight into the last 16 while a round of play-offs will decide the other eight teams.

The exact fixtures schedule will be confirmed by UEFA on Saturday.

How does the new format work?

The expanded 36-team tournament sees each team play eight games – four at home and four away – in the league system, against two opponents from each of the four seeding pots.

Teams who finish in the top eight will qualify automatically for the last 16, while those who place ninth to 24th will compete in a two-legged knockout play-off for the chance to join them.

Whoever finishes 25th or lower will be eliminated and will not be entered into the Europa League.

The number of matches in the new format will increase from 125 to 189.

Each team will play a minimum of eight games – instead of six – and a maximum of 17.

Champions League action begins on 17-19 September, and with the increased number of fixtures, the league phase runs until 29 January rather than finishing before Christmas.

Who will British teams play?

1. The order of matches will be confirmed on Saturday, after the Europa League and Conference League draws have been made.

   Aston Villa

   Bayern Munich (H)

   Leipzig (A)

   Juventus (H)

   Club Bruges (A)

   Celtic (H)

   Young Boys (A)

   Bologna (H)

   Monaco (A)

   Arsenal

   Paris St-Germain (H)

   Inter Milan (A)

   Shakhtar Donetsk (H)

   Atalanta (A)

   Dinamo Zagreb (H)

   Sporting Lisbon (A)

   Monaco (H)

   Girona (A)

   Celtic

   Aston Villa (A)

   Leipzig (H)

   Borussia Dortmund (A)

   Club Bruges (H)

   Atalanta (A)

   Young Boys (H)

   Dinamo Zagreb (A)

   Slovan Bratislava (H)

   Liverpool

   Real Madrid (H)

   Leipzig (A)

   Leverkusen (H)

   AC Milan (A)

   Lille (H)

   PSV Eindhoven (A)

   Bologna (H)

   Girona (A)

   Manchester City

   Inter Milan (H)

   Paris St-Germain (A)

   Club Brugge (H)

   Juventus (A)

   Feyenoord (H)

   Sporting Lisbon (A)

   Sparta Prague (H)

   Slovan Bratislava (A)

   The draw in full

   The Gunners, in Pot 2, will be relatively happy with their Pot 1 opponents. The rest of their opponents came out as Shakhtar Donetsk, Dinamo Zagreb, Sporting Lisbon, Monaco and Girona.

   Manchester City will face Inter, Juventus and PSG in a slightly tougher draw on paper, along with Club Brugge, Feyenoord, Sporting Lisbon, Sparta Prague and Slovan Bratislava.

   Liverpool were the next British team pulled out by former Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon at the draw in Monte Carlo.

   Cristiano Ronaldo was the man then tasked with pushing a large button on the desk in front of him to allocate eight computer-generated opponents.

   The Reds were given fixtures against holders Real Madrid, Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen, AC Milan, Lille, PSV Eindhoven, Bologna and Girona.