Liverpool will square off against reigning Champions League holders Real Madrid as they return to Europe’s elite competition under the tournament’s new format.

Manchester City and Arsenal will each face last season’s semi-finalists, Paris Saint-Germain, while Aston Villa prepares to take on Scottish champions Celtic.

This year’s men’s Champions League introduces a significant change, with teams playing eight fixtures in the ‘league phase’ instead of the traditional group stage.

The draw, held in Monaco on Thursday, featured a high-tech twist with Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo pressing the button that triggered a computer algorithm to determine the matchups.

A Uefa video shown before the draw humorously captured the confusion among football stars about the new format, before former Swedish star Zlatan Ibrahimovic highlighted the benefits of “more football” in a lighthearted exchange with Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin.

Check The Matchup For EPL Teams Below.

The schedule for the matches will be finalized on Saturday, following the draws for the Europa League and Conference League.

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)

Real Face Dortmund in Repeat of Last Year’s Final – Key Fixtures to Watch

Teams will not face others from their own country during the league phase, so no derbies are possible. However, the new format guarantees several exciting clashes between top sides.

Reigning champions Real Madrid will face Borussia Dortmund in a rematch of last season’s final, where Real triumphed 2-0 at Wembley. Real will also play against Italian teams AC Milan and Atalanta.

Xabi Alonso will return to Anfield with his Bayer Leverkusen squad for one of their league phase games.

Paris St-Germain, French champions, will play Bayern Munich in a repeat of the 2020 final they lost, and will also face Atletico Madrid.

Barcelona, drawn in a challenging group, will go up against both Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund from Pot 1.

New Format Overview

The expanded 36-team tournament will feature eight matches per team – four home and four away – against two opponents from each of the four seeding pots.

The top eight teams will advance directly to the last 16. Teams finishing ninth to 24th will compete in a two-legged knockout play-off for a spot in the round of 16.

Teams that finish 25th or lower will be eliminated from the Champions League, with no entry into the Europa League.

The total number of matches will rise from 125 to 189, with each team playing a minimum of eight games and a maximum of 17. The league phase will start on September 17-19 and run until January 29, extending beyond the Christmas break.