For the first time in the history of the competition, four French clubs are involved in the Champions League, which is switching to a new format.
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The French and European clubs are set. The draw has made its verdict to reveal the 144 matches of the first regular phase of the Champions League, Thursday, August 29. PSG, Lille, Monaco and Brest, the four French teams involved, will all have several shocks on the program.
Paris Saint-Germain will host Manchester City, the 2024 champions, and will travel to Bayern Munich. Monaco will go to Giuseppe-Meazza to challenge Inter Milan and will host Barça, who will also host Stade Brestois. For their first Champions League campaign, the Bretons will also face Real at home (but at Roudourou), which will also be the case for Lille. The Dogues have, in addition, inherited a trip to Anfield to challenge Liverpool.
In addition to Manchester City and Bayern Munich, PSG have inherited tough opponents from pots 2 and 3. Luis Enrique’s men will face Atlético Madrid, a first, and PSV Eindhoven at the Parc des Princes, while they will travel to Arsenal and Salzburg. Girona (at home) and Stuttgart (in Germany) complete their schedule.
For Losc, some great matches are also planned. Real Madrid at home and Liverpool at Anfield, therefore, but also three trips to the grounds of Atlético Madrid, Sporting Portugal and the Austrians of Sturm Graz. Lille will host Juventus, Feyenoord and Bologna, who will play their first C1 campaign.
Still a big program for Monaco, back in the Champions League after six years of absence. The players of the Rock will go to Inter Milan, Arsenal, Dinamo Zagreb and Bologna. They will receive Barça, Benfica, Red Star Belgrade and Aston Villa, probably the team that had to be avoided in pot 4.
Finally, Stade Brestois will also be in for a treat for their first C1 campaign. Eric Roy’s men will therefore challenge the two Spanish giants, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, and will come up against Bayer Leverkusen, last season’s hit in Germany. They will also host PSV Eindhoven, former winners of the competition. Trips to Germany to face Shakhtar Donetsk, Salzburg and Sparta Prague are also on the programme, as is the reception of Sturm Graz.
With this new formula, the group stage and the three home-and-away matches are gone. The 36 clubs involved are now united in a single league and will face eight other teams, four at home, four away. The league stage matches will take place from September 17 to January 29. The final will take place in Munich on May 31.