In an exciting kickoff to the new Champions League format, Manchester City, the defending Premier League champions, will face off against Inter Milan, the Serie A titleholders. Both City and Arsenal are set to play against Paris St-Germain, while Aston Villa will square off with Scottish champions Celtic.
The Champions League has undergone a significant transformation, moving away from traditional group stages to a more dynamic league phase. Each of the 36 participating teams will play eight matches—split evenly between home and away games—against different seeded teams. The draw for these matchups took place in Monaco, featuring stars like Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic to add to the excitement.
British Teams' Champions League Fixtures
Manchester City's matchups include:
Inter Milan (Home)
Paris St-Germain (Away)
Club Brugge (Home)
Juventus (Away)
Feyenoord (Home)
Sporting Lisbon (Away)
Sparta Prague (Home)
Slovan Bratislava (Away)
Arsenal will compete against:
Paris St-Germain (Home)
Inter Milan (Away)
Shakhtar Donetsk (Home)
Atalanta (Away)
Dinamo Zagreb (Home)
Sporting Lisbon (Away)
Monaco (Home)
Girona (Away)
Aston Villa will face:
Bayern Munich (Home)
Leipzig (Away)
Juventus (Home)
Club Brugge (Away)
Celtic (Home)
Young Boys (Away)
Bologna (Home)
Monaco (Away)
Celtic will play:
Aston Villa (Away)
Leipzig (Home)
Borussia Dortmund (Away)
Club Brugge (Home)
Atalanta (Away)
Young Boys (Home)
Dinamo Zagreb (Away)
Slovan Bratislava (Home)
Liverpool's schedule includes:
Real Madrid (Home)
Leipzig (Away)
Leverkusen (Home)
AC Milan (Away)
Lille (Home)
PSV Eindhoven (Away)
Bologna (Home)
Girona (Away)
Understanding the New Champions League Format
The revamped Champions League now features 36 teams, each playing eight games in a league-based format instead of traditional groups. The top eight teams will automatically qualify for the last 16, while those ranked between ninth and 24th will enter a knockout play-off round for a chance to advance.
Teams finishing 25th or below will be eliminated and will not be transferred to the Europa League. This change increases the total number of matches from 125 to 189, allowing more football action throughout the season. The competition kicks off on 17-19 September and will run until 29 January, extending past the usual Christmas break.
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