Liverpool host Real Madrid and Arsenal face TWO trips to Italy in the new Champions League format… while a draw gives Aston Villa THREE home games against former winners of the competition

Premier League teams now know who they will play against in the revamped Champions League format for the 2024-25 season.

Unlike previous tournaments, UEFA has abolished the group stage for the tournament and increased the total number of participating clubs from 32 to 36.

Instead of the traditional format where clubs are divided into groups, participating clubs now play in a league format where they play against eight teams to secure a place in the knockout stage.

Unlike previous iterations of the competition, teams will no longer progress to the Europa League, with only the top 16 teams advancing. Teams from the same country will also not be drawn against each other during the first phase of the competition.

Champions League veterans Gianluigi Buffon and Cristiano Ronaldo were on hand to conduct the draw.

Premier League clubs have discovered who they will be playing against in the revamped Champions League this season

Gianluigi Buffon and Cristiano Ronaldo were on hand to determine the fixtures for the new competition format

However, in another first, AI technology was used to decide which seven teams the drawn club will face, with five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo relegated to pressing a thematic button to start the process.

The first team drawn from Pot 1 in the new format was Manchester City, with Pep Guardiola’s team taking on Internazionale (home), PSG (away), Club Brugge (home), Juventus (away), Feyenoord (home), Sporting Lisbon (away), Sparta Prague (home) and Slovan Bratislava (away).

Liverpool meanwhile will face Real Madrid (home), RB Leipzig (away), Bayer Leverkusen (home), AC Milan (away), Lille (home), PSV (away), Bologna (home) and Girona (away).

Arsenal are the only team of the four English teams in this season’s competition to have never won the Champions League. It is therefore no surprise that Arsenal will be looking to win the famous trophy when the final takes place at the Allianz Arena in May.

In their bid to reach the final stages, Mikel Arteta’s Gunners will face the likes of PSG (home), Internazionale (away), Shakhtar Donetsk (home), Atalanta (away), Dinamo Zagreb (home), Sporting Lisbon (away), Monaco (home) and Girona (away).

Meanwhile, Harry Kane will return to a Premier League stadium as Aston Villa host Bayern Munich at Villa Park.

Aston Villa have been linked with three historic heavyweights of European football

In addition to the Bavarian club, Villa fans can also look forward to games against RB Leipzig (away), Juventus (home), Club Brugge (away), Celtic (home), Young Boys (away), Bologna (home) and Monaco (away).

It is important to note that the order in which the teams are drawn does not necessarily correspond to the order in which the matches will be played.

The full schedule, including the dates of all matches, will be announced on Saturday.