New Champions with Bombs – AS.com

Anfield will see Madrid, Bayern against Barça, PSG against Atlético and several European historical players against Girona in the most exciting encounters between the Spanish teams in a League stage that is making its debut in the Champions League and which was drawn in Monaco. Three European champions will cross the path of Ancelotti’s men, while Flick’s Barça will have their main rivals in the two German teams with the richest histories. Colchonero will face Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen, one of Europe’s revelations last season, while debutants Girona have been drawn into a series of deadly encounters against Liverpool and Arsenal at home, and PSG and Milan away. The exact schedule will not be known until Saturday.

Madrid came out of the first computer-generated draw in history well, with Buffon and Cristiano as innocent hands, although they will have to re-edit their last Champions League final against Dortmund, who they will play at home. They will also face two historic teams in European football, Liverpool at Anfield and Milan at the Bernabeu, in what will undoubtedly be their most beautiful and special match in the league. They also have to face Atalanta in Bergamo, a team they already beat in the last Super Cup. The eight white opponents include Salzburg and Stuttgart at home, and two French players, Lille and Brest, away.

Barcelona, ​​for their part, will have their toughest opponents in the German teams. In fact, they will have to face each other with Bayern and Dortmund, at home in the case of the former, and away in the case of the latter. A special move for Flick, the first to reunite with the team with which he was European champion and which he led to a 2-8 victory over Barça, in a historic result. In addition, the Cules team have tough visits to Benfica, Estrella Roja and Monaco ahead of them, while they will host Atalanta, Young Boys and Brest at home, which will be a good opportunity to pick up some much-needed points to advance to the next round.

As for Atletico, they will face two European champions at home: PSG in Paris and Leverkusen at home, as well as Leipzig, who they will also host. Seeing Xabi Alonso in the Champions League at the Colchonero stadium – something that already happened two years ago – will bring great joy. Lille and Slovan Bratislava will also travel through the Metropolitano, while the rest of Simeone’s side’s visits will take place at Benfica, Salzburg and Sparta Prague.

It’s tough for Girona

Finally, Girona will have to face the rigors of the Champions League, with top-flight opposition. Two premier teams, Liverpool and Arsenal, will come to his home, and he will have to travel to Paris and Milan. In addition to them, Michel’s charges will have to face two Dutch teams (Feyenoord at home and PSV away) and the two most accessible ones: Slovan away and Sturm Graz at home.

Among the other big European clubs, the level of opponents that PSG will face stands out: City (home), Bayern (away), Atletico (home), Arsenal (away), PSV (home), Salzburg (away), Girona (home) and Stuttgart (away) are paving a very thorny path for Luis Enrique’s men. Other favourites City will have to travel to Paris and Turin to face PSG and Juventus, as well as host Inter in their highest scoring games.

Starting with this edition of the traditional group stage, there is an all-versus-all league, although not all play against all. There will be more teams (36 instead of 32) and more games (two days in January plus a round of 32). Each team will have two opponents from different baskets: one at home and one away. The first eight advance to the second round; those remaining between 9 and 24 move to the sixteenth; the rest are eliminated. The matches will start from September 17 to 19 (the first day will start on Thursday) and will end on January 29, the final date, which will have a single schedule. The new champions are here. The revolution has come.

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