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UCL

UCL: New-look Champions League draw throws up epic heavyweight clashes

Aston Villa’s Champions League debut sees a British showdown with Celtic and a nostalgic clash with Bayern Munich, promising thrilling encounters.

A general view of the UEFA Champions League draw in Monaco.

Aston Villa's Champions League debut sees a British showdown with Celtic and a nostalgic clash with Bayern Munich, promising thrilling encounters.

Two women looking excitedly at cellphone

At the draw in Monte Carlo, the revamped 36-team competition threw up a showdown with the Scottish champions and a repeat of Villa’s finest hour, their European Cup victory over Bayern in 1982.

The new format sees all 36 teams forming a single league, with each entrant playing four home games and four away.

The top eight will go straight into the last 16 while a round of play-offs will decide the other eight teams.

Manchester City were the first team pulled out by former Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.

Cristiano Ronaldo was the man then tasked with pushing a large button on the desk in front of him to allocate eight computer-generated opponents.

City’s highlights include clashes with Inter Milan, Juventus and Paris St Germain.

Club Brugge, Feyenoord, Sporting Lisbon, Sparta Prague and Slovan Bratislava are their other five opponents.

Liverpool were the next British team pulled out and landed a home fixture against holders Real Madrid.

Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen, AC Milan, Lille, PSV Eindhoven, Bologna and Girona made up their schedule.

Arsenal were drawn out of pot two already knowing they would face PSG, Atalanta and Inter Milan.

The rest of their opponents came out as Shakhtar Donetsk, Dinamo Zagreb, Sporting Lisbon, Monaco and Girona.

As well as Villa, Celtic, residing in Pot Three, will face last season’s runners-up Borussia Dortmund, Leipzig, Club Brugge, Atalanta, Young Boys, Dinamo Zagreb and Slovan Bratislava.

Most of the jeopardy had long since passed for Villa, down in Pot Four, who knew all but two of their opponents during a headache-inducing procedure.

Their other seven fixtures will be against Leipzig, Juventus, Club Brugge, Celtic, Young Boys, Bologna and Monaco.

The full fixture list with match dates and kick-off times will be announced on Saturday, August 31.

Fixtures

REAL MADRID
Borussia Dortmund (h), Liverpool (a), AC Milan (h), Atalanta (a),
Salzburg (h), Lille (a), VfB Stuttgart (h), Brest (a).

MANCHESTER CITY
Inter Milan (h), Paris St-Germain (a), Club Bruges (h), Juventus (a),
Feyenoord (h), Sporting Lisbon (a), Sparta Prague (h), Slovan Bratislava (a).

BAYERN MUNICH
Paris St-Germain (h), Barcelona (a), Benfica (h), Shakhtar Donetsk (a),
Dinamo Zagreb (h), Feyenoord (a), Slovan Bratislava (h), Aston Villa (a).

PARIS ST-GERMAIN
Manchester City (h), Bayern Munich (a), Atletico Madrid (h), Arsenal (a),
PSV Eindhoven (h), Salzburg (a), Girona (h), VfB Stuttgart (a).

LIVERPOOL
Real Madrid (h), RB Leipzig (a), Bayer Leverkusen (h), AC Milan (a),
Lille (h), PSV Eindhoven (a), Bologna (h), Girona (a).

INTER MILAN
RB Leipzig (h), Manchester City (a), Arsenal (h), Bayer Leverkusen (a),
Red Star Belgrade (h), Young Boys (a), Monaco (h), Sparta Prague (a).

BORUSSIA DORTMUND
Barcelona (h), Real Madrid (a), Shakhtar Donetsk (h), Club Bruges (a),
Celtic (h), Dinamo Zagreb (a), Sturm Graz (h), Bologna (a).

RB LEIPZIG
Liverpool (h), Inter Milan (a), Juventus (h), Atletico Madrid (a),
Sporting Lisbon (h), Celtic (a), Aston Villa (h), Sturm Graz (a).

BARCELONA
Bayern Munich (h), Borussia Dortmund (a), Atalanta (h), Benfica (a),
Young Boys (h), Red Star Belgrade (a), Brest (h), Monaco (a).

BAYER LEVERKUSEN
Inter Milan (h), Liverpool (a), AC Milan (h), Atletico Madrid (a),
Salzburg (h), Feyenoord (a), Sparta Prague (h), Brest (a).

ATLETICO MADRID
RB Leipzig (h), Paris St-Germain (a), Bayer Leverkusen (h), Benfica (a),
Lille (h), Salzburg (a), Slovan Bratislava (h), Sparta Prague (a).

JUVENTUS
Manchester City (h), RB Leipzig (a), Benfica (h), Club Bruges (a),
SV Eindhoven (h), Lille (a), VfB Stuttgart (h), Aston Villa (a).

ARSENAL
Paris St-Germain (h), Inter Milan (a), Shakhtar Donetsk (h), Atalanta (a),
Dinamo Zagreb (h), Sporting Lisbon (a), Monaco (h), Girona (a).

AC MILAN
Liverpool (h), Real Madrid (a), Club Bruges (h), Bayer Leverkusen (a),
Red Star Belgrade (h), Dinamo Zagreb (a), Girona (h), Slovan Bratislava (a).

ASTON VILLA
Bayern Munich (h), RB Leipzig (a), Juventus (h), Club Bruges (a),
Celtic (h), Young Boys (a), Bologna (h), Monaco (a).

CELTIC
Aston Villa (a), Leipzig (h), Borussia Dortmund (a), Club Bruges (h),
Atalanta (a), Young Boys (h), Dinamo Zagreb (a), Slovan Bratislava (h).

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