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
- Premier League sides have found out who they will face in Champions League
- This season marks the debut of a new league format in the UEFA competition
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Aston Villa will attempt to ‘make England proud again’ after being handed a stunning Champions League return.
Unai Emery’s team will host European superpowers Juventus and Bayern Munich and will stage a battle of Britain with Celtic under the Villa Park lights in their first appearance in the competition since the 1982-83 season.
And, after a dream draw also paired them with the likes of Leipzig, Monaco and Bruges director of football operations Damian Vidagany fired a warning shot across the Continent.
‘We have a realistic opportunity to go forward and qualify,’ the Spaniard said.
‘We want to not only be there but to play good football. It’s emotional for Aston Villa – for many years they were a team that England was proud of and we want to be that team again.’
Club learned who they’ll be facing in this season’s revamped Champions League on Thursday
Aston Villa have been drawn against three historical heavyweights of European football
Gianluigi Buffon and Cristiano Ronaldo were on hand to draw fixtures for new league format
Liverpool will travel to the San Siro to take on AC Milan in the revamped league format
Elsewhere, Liverpool host Real Madrid and Manchester City will head to Paris Saint-Germain as the British teams learned their fate at a glitzy, semi-automated ceremony in Monaco that passed by without any glitches.
For the first time, in what many view as an attempt to see off the threat of a breakaway European Super League, the old groups are gone, with one league taking over.
Each side will play eight fixtures – a lucrative minimum of two more than the previous set-up.
Premier League champions City were the first team pulled out by legendary Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, with Cristiano Ronaldo then pressing a button to trigger a computer generated schedule of opponents.
Pep Guardiola’s side will also face the likes of Inter Milan, who they beat in last season’s final, Juventus, Sporting Lisbon and Sparta Prague.
The Reds will also play host to reigning European champions Real Madrid at Anfield
Meanwhile Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal can look forward to ties against PSG and Inter Milan
| MAN CITY | ARSENAL | LIVERPOOL | ASTON VILLA | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inter Milan (H) | PSG (H) | Real Madrid (H) | Bayern Munich (H) | ||
| PSG (A) | Inter Milan (A) | RB Leipzig (A) | RB Leipzig (A) | ||
| Club Brugge (H) | Shakhtar Donetsk (H) | Bayer Leverkusen (H) | Juventus (H) | ||
| Juventus (A) | Atalanta (A) | AC Milan (A) | Club Brugge (A) | ||
| Feyenoord (H) | Dinamo Zagreb (H) | Lille (H) | Celtic (H) | ||
| Sporting Lisbon (A) | Sporting Lisbon (A) | PSV (A) | Young Boys (A) | ||
| Sparta Prague (H) | Monaco (H) | Bologna (H) | Bologna (H) | ||
| Slovan Bratislava (A) | Girona (A) | Girona (A) | Monaco (A) | ||
| Dates for all fixtures will be announced on Saturday, 31 August | |||||
Aside from the Spanish defending champions, Arne Slot’s Liverpool will face clubs including former star Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen, along with Leipzig and AC Milan – in the 20th anniversary of their epic 2005 final. Alonso had been viewed as the frontrunner to replace Jurgen Klopp.
Like Liverpool, Arsenal will also play new boys Girona, along with PSG, Inter Milan and Monaco.
