Liverpool have been drawn against Real Madrid in the group stage of the 36-team Champions League, while Barcelona coach Hansi Flick will return to Germany to face his former club Bayern Munich.
Bayern meet Barcelona in the competition for the third time in the past four seasons, and the German club have won the last six meetings, including an 8-2 win in the quarter-finals on their way to lifting the Champions League title in 2020 under Flick.
The draw, conducted in collaboration between Gianluigi Buffon, Cristiano Ronaldo and UEFA’s computer, produced some heavyweight clashes including Manchester City v Paris Saint-Germain and a replay of last year’s final: Borussia Dortmund v Madrid.
Arsenal have managed to avoid some of the tougher teams from the top tier as they were drawn against Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan, while Aston Villa will face Bayern for the first time since beating the Bundesliga giants in the 1982 European Cup final.
As well as hosting Real Madrid, Liverpool will also meet former midfielder Xabi Alonso when he leads his Bayer Leverkusen side to Anfield. Alonso has been heavily linked with the Liverpool managerial job after Jurgen Klopp’s shock announcement in January that he would step down from the role.
In the new format of the competition, each team will play eight matches before the knockout stages – two more than in previous years – with the final round of matches taking place on January 29.
Each team was drawn to face eight different opponents – four home games, four away games – two games from each of the four seeding bowls.
Teams from the same league cannot face each other, and each club cannot play against more than two teams from the same country.
The top eight teams will qualify directly for the round of 16. Teams placed between ninth and twenty-fourth will advance to the knockout stage, while the bottom twelve teams will be eliminated.
Dates, times and standings for each team’s matches will be announced on Saturday.
Champions League Draw
Manchester City: Inter Milan (H), Paris Saint-Germain (H), Club Brugge (H), Juventus (H), Feyenoord (H), Sporting Lisbon (H), Sparta Prague (H), Slovan Bratislava (H).
Arsenal: Paris Saint-Germain (H), Inter Milan (A), Shakhtar Donetsk (H), Atalanta (A), Dinamo Zagreb (H), Sporting Lisbon (A), Monaco (H), Girona (A)
Liverpool: Real Madrid (H), Leipzig (Away), Bayer Leverkusen (H), Milan (Away), Lille (H), PSV Eindhoven (Away), Bologna (H), Girona (Away)
Aston Villa: Bayern Munich (H), RB Leipzig (A), Juventus (H), Club Brugge (A), Celtic (H), Young Boys (A), Bologna (H), Monaco (A)
real madrid: Dortmund (H), Liverpool (A), Milan (H), Atalanta (A), Salzburg (H), Lille (A), Stuttgart (H), Brest (A)
Barcelona: Bayern Munich (H), Dortmund (A), Atalanta (H), Benfica (A), Young Boys (H), Red Star Belgrade (A), Brest (H), Monaco (A)
Atletico Madrid: RB Leipzig (H), Paris Saint-Germain (H), Bayer Leverkusen (H), Benfica (H), Lille (H), Salzburg (H), Slovan Bratislava (H), Sparta Prague (A).
Bayern Munich: Paris Saint-Germain (H), Barcelona (H), Benfica (H), Shakhtar Donetsk (A), Dinamo Zagreb (H), Feyenoord (H), Slovan Bratislava (A), Aston Villa (A).
Bayer Leverkusen: Inter Milan (H), Liverpool (A), Atletico Madrid (A), Milan (H), Red Bull Salzburg (H), Feyenoord (A), Sparta Prague (H), Brest (A)
Borussia Dortmund: Barcelona (H), Real Madrid (A), Shakhtar Donetsk (H), Club Brugge (A), Celtic (H), Dinamo Zagreb (A), Sturm Graz (H), Bologna (A)
Inter Milan: Leipzig (H), Manchester City (A), Arsenal (H), Leverkusen (A), Red Star Belgrade (H), Young Boys (A), Monaco (H), Sparta Prague (A)
AC Milan: Liverpool (H), Real Madrid (H), Club Brugge (H), Bayer Leverkusen (H), Red Star Belgrade (H), Dinamo Zagreb (H), Girona (H), Slovan Bratislava (H).
Juventus: Manchester City (H), RB Leipzig (A), Benfica (H), Club Brugge (A), Eindhoven (H), Lille (A), Stuttgart (H), Aston Villa (A)
Paris Saint-Germain: Manchester City (H), Bayern Munich (A), Atletico Madrid (H), Arsenal (A), PSV Eindhoven (H), Red Bull Salzburg (A), Girona (H), Stuttgart (A)
Celtic: RB Leipzig (H), Borussia Dortmund (A), Club Brugge (A), Atalanta (A), Young Boys (A), Dinamo Zagreb (A), Slovan Bratislava (A), Aston Villa (A).
