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For the first time in the history of the most prestigious European Cup series, the draw for the main tournament was done automatically by computer, with invited celebrity guests and former players just having to press a button. In addition, the number of teams and the draw process have also changed. Instead of the usual 32 teams, the reformed “League Stage” will be played on a table with 36 teams, which means we say goodbye to the classic four-man group stage.
In the draw, each team ushered in two opponents from the four hats, one at home and the other away, in eight rounds of regular season. The top eight directly entered the top 16, 9-24. The runner-up can play a round-robin match and advance to the top 16, and the last 12 teams are eliminated.
The two star guests of the draw at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco were Gianluigi Buffon and Cristiano Ronaldo. The legendary Italian goalkeeper received the UEFA President’s Award from the president of the association, Aleksander Ceferin, and the Portuguese classic, who is still active, received the award because he is the most successful player in the history of the elite series with 140 goals. The teams were first drawn manually and then automatically by computer.
Manchester City will be the first to face their opponent. The 2023 final is coming soon. Guardiola’s team will face Inter Milan at home, and will also face teams such as Paris Saint-Germain.
From the Hungarian point of view, the “hot games” of this season’s league will obviously be RB Leipzig’s clash with Liverpool, where Dominik Szoboszlai will be able to return for the first time to the place where he previously had success, as well as against his two national team-mates, Petr Gulacsi and Willy Orban.
In addition, Liverpool will face Real Madrid at Anfield Road during their eight league games, while also visiting Milan, where they will face AC Milan. If newly-selected international Antar Yakobishvili is able to break into Girona’s starting XI in the autumn, he could face Dominik Szoboszlai and Liverpool.
Photo: Getty Images
In addition to Liverpool, RB Leipzig will also face Juventus, Sporting Lisbon and Aston Villa at home, while Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, Celtic and Sturm Graz are waiting for them away.
As well as Liverpool, defending champions Real Madrid will face Borussia Dortmund again in the second leg of the 2024 final, while also hosting AC Milan and recent German silverware winners Stuttgart at the Santiago Bernabéu. Real Madrid’s arch-rivals Barcelona host Bayern Munich in the second leg of the 2020 semi-final, but the Catalans’ ‘league’ opponents also include Dortmund, Atalanta and Benfica.
French record champions Paris Saint-Germain have an extremely difficult draw and will also face Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Atletico Madrid in the league stage. The aforementioned Girona team employs Antar Yakobishvili and will play Paris Saint-Germain, Arsenal and AC Milan in addition to Liverpool.
The group stage will begin on September 17, with specific dates for all matches to be announced on Saturday.
(Cover image: Getty Images)
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