Manchester City, Arsenal & Liverpool discover 8 Champions League group-stage opponents

Manchester City have discovered which eight sides they will face in the 2024/25 Champions League group stage.

The revamped version of the tournament’s opening round sees an end to the long-standing eight groups of four teams, with all 36 sides drawn in one league table, and facing eight different teams.

Due to the complicated nature of the new format - which sees clubs drawn against two teams from Pots 1, 2, 3 and 4 - an AI-assisted draw was carried out on Thursday in Monaco.

City were the first team pulled out of the hat by Gianluigi Buffon, with Cristiano Ronaldo underwhelmingly pressing a circular Champions League bottom which automatically assigned eight opponents. Inter Milan, Club Brugge, Feyenoord and Sparta Prague will travel to the Etihad as part of the new group, while Pep Guardiola’s side will face trips to Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, Sporting Lisbon and Slovan Bratislava.

The new group will begin across 17/18/19 September and the dates for all eight of City’s Champions League fixtures will be confirmed on Saturday.

The standout game is perhaps the clash with PSG, who City have faced in three double-legged games since 2015/16, while Inter offers a rerun of the 2023 final.

Elsewhere, the biggest tie of the opening round of games sees Liverpool face Real Madrid at Anfield, in a repeat of the 2022 final. The Reds will also host Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen, Lille and Bologna. Arne Slot will also bring his side to RB Leipzig, AC Milan, PSV Eindhoven and Girona in a tough draw for the Merseyside club.

As for Arsenal, they play PSG, Shakhtar Donetsk, Dynamo Zagreb and Monaco at home, and Inter, Atalanta, Sporting and Girona away.

Aston Villa - returning to Europe’s top competition for first time since they were holders in 1982 - host Bayern Munich, who they beat in that final, as well as Juventus, Celtic and Bologna. The four away games will see the club play Leipzig, Brugge, Young Boys and Monaco.

The draw was preceded by both Buffon and Ronaldo receiving on-stage awards. The latter was honoured with a special prize to acknowledge his status as the competition’s all-time top scorer, while Buffon collected the 2024 UEFA President's Award.