Liverpool host Real Madrid and Arsenal face TWO trips to Italy in new Champions League format… while draw hands Aston Villa THREE home ties against former winners of the competition

The four Premier League teams to reach the Champions League have found out who they will be facing in this season’s revamped format.

Thursday’s draw marked the dawn of a new era in Europe’s most prestigious club competition, with a number of changes implemented for the 2024/25 campaign.

Unlike previous tournaments, UEFA have increased the number of clubs to 36 and scrapped the traditional group stage featuring eight groups of four teams, with each side playing each other home and away.

Instead, participating clubs will now feature in a league format where they will play eight separate teams, with the 16 highest-placed clubs earning their way into the knockout phase.

Unlike previous iterations of the competition, teams will no longer filter into the Europa League, with only the 16 highest-ranked teams progressing. Teams from the same nation also cannot to drawn against each other during the initial league phase.

Gianluigi Buffon and Cristiano Ronaldo were on hand to draw fixtures for new league format

While the draw provided each team with their opponents for the league stage, the order in which the teams were drawn will not necessarily correspond with the order the games will be played.

A full schedule including the dates of all fixtures is set to be announced on Saturday.

Veterans of the Champions League in the form of Gianluigi Buffon and Cristiano Ronaldo were on hand to conduct the draw.

However, in another first AI technology was utilised to decide which seven teams the drawn club will take on. 

Five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo was thus relegated to pressing a themed button to kickstart the process.

After the event got underway Manchester City were the first team to be allocated their opponents, with Pep Guardiola’s side intent on avenging their defeat in last year’s quarter-final.

The reigning Premier League champions will face Inter Milan (H), PSG (A). Club Brugge (H), Juventus (A), Feyenoord (H), Sporting Lisbon (A), Sparta Prague (H) and Slovan Bratislava (A).

In their first season since Jurgen Klopp’s departure, Liverpool will be looking to continue the German’s heroics on the continent under new boss Arne Slot. 

The Reds twice suffered defeat against Real Madrid in the final of the competition under Klopp, and they will once again prepare for a showdown with Los Blancos at Anfield after being drawn against Carlo Ancelotti’s side.

Liverpool will also play RB Leipzig (A), Bayer Leverkusen (H), AC Milan (A), Lille (H), PSV (A), Bologna (H), and Girona (A).

The only of the four English teams involved in this season’s competition never to have won the Champions League, Arsenal will no doubt be desperate to get their hands on the famous trophy come the final at the Allianz Arena in May.

In their bid to reach the latter stages Mikel Arteta’s Gunners will face the likes of PSG (H), Inter Milan (A), Shakhtar Donetsk (H), Atalanta (A), Dinamo Zagreb (H), Sporting Lisbon (A), Monaco (H) and Girona (A),

Meanwhile, Aston Villa will play host to three different former European champions as the two-time winners prepare to make their long-awaited return to the competition.

Familiar faces in the form of Harry Kane, Vincent Kompany, and Eric Dier will make their way to Villa Park as they play host to Bayern Munich. 

Aston Villa have been drawn against three historical heavyweights of European football

In addition to the Bavarian club, Villa fans can also look forward to clashes with RB Leipzig (A), Juventus (H), Club Brugge (A), Celtic (H), Young Boys (A), Bologna (H), and Monaco (A).