A thrilling new framework for the competition has been established by the UEFA Champions League draw, which took place on Thursday in Monaco.
Along with Inter Milan, Salzburg, Liverpool, Sparta Prague, Atlético Madrid, Feyenoord, Brest, and challenging opponents like Samuel Chukwueze’s AC Milan, Victor Boniface and Nathan Tella’s Bayer Leverkusen have also been drawn against. Leverkusen will play away games against Liverpool, Atlético Madrid, Feyenoord, and Brest, but will home matches against Inter Milan, Salzburg, AC Milan, and Sparta Prague.
With home meetings against Liverpool, Club Brugge, Crvena Zvezda, and Girona and away matches against Real Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Dinamo Zagreb, and Slovan Bratislava, Samuel Chukwueze’s AC Milan is up against a difficult group.
Raphael Onyedika’s Club Brugge will play host to Aston Villa, Sporting CP, Juventus, and Borussia Dortmund. They will face challenging away games against teams like Sturm Graz, Manchester City, AC Milan, and Celtic.
Ademola Lookman’s Atalanta will take on Real Madrid, Arsenal, Celtic, Sturm Graz, and Barcelona on the road and Young Boys, Stuttgart, and Shakhtar Donetsk at home.
Ethan Nwaneri’s Arsenal have a challenging draw with matches against Inter Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, Atalanta, Shakhtar Donetsk, Dinamo Zagreb, Sporting Lisbon, Monaco, and Girona.
FC Barcelona, Benfica, Red Star Belgrade, and Aston Villa will all be playing at AS Monaco, which is led by George Ilenikhena. They will travel to play Inter Milan, Arsenal, Bologna, and Dinamo Zagreb on their away games.
In the new Champions League format, the top eight teams from the group stage will go directly to the round of 16. Teams will not be permitted to participate in any European events if they finish 25th or lower. The clubs seeded ninth through sixteenth will host the first leg of a two-match play-off between the teams ranked ninth through twenty-fourth. The play-off winners will advance to the round of sixteen after that.
