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Nathan Edwards

Champions League fixtures confirmed! Liverpool to travel to AC Milan and Man City to face Inter Milan on matchday one as defending champions Real Madrid welcome Stuttgart

The draw for the Champions League group stage has been made, with Liverpool set to face AC Milan in one of the headline Matchday One fixtures.

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  • The Champions League kicks-off on the 17th September
  • Liverpool face AC Milan and Real Madrid
  • Arsenal face the kindest fixtures in new format

  • WHAT HAPPENED?

    It was an exciting day in Monaco as Cristiano Ronaldo helped draw the new format of the Champions League, and now we know when the games are going to take place, with some of the English sides getting trickier routes than others. Liverpool kickstart their campaign on the 17th September against AC Milan, along with Aston Villa who travel to Switzerland to face Young Boys.

    The following day Manchester City have a repeat of that memorable final against Inter Milan, and Arsenal cap off the English side's opening fixtures when they play Atalanta on Thursday 19th September

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  • Manchester City Champions League trophy 2023Getty

    THE BIGGER PICTURE

    Liverpool will be looking at theirs through their fingers because after the first fixture, Xabi Alonso returns to Anfield on game week four with Bayer Leverkusen and then Real Madrid three weeks later.

    Manchester City will be confident that they can get to the next stage of this new format, with games against Slovan Bratislava, Sparta Prague, Sporting, Feyenoord, Juventus, PSG and Club Brugge making it a favourable path. Arsenal are still out looking for European success, and they route to doing that this year starts with Atalanta, then a home fixture against PSG, and Inter follow with Shakhtar Donetsk sandwiched in between. They also face Girona and Sporting, with AS Monaco and Dinamo Zagreb the two other opponents.

    Finally for the English representation on the finest European stage, Aston Villa have returned to the highest European competition, with a continental tour seeing them play Club Brugge, RB Leipzig and Monaco away, while Bayern Munich on 2nd October and Juventus on the 27th November at Villa Park will be huge fixtures.

  • THE FULL FIXTURES

    Below is the full list of fixtures.

  • DID YOU KNOW?

     For the first time in 21 years, there has been a format change for Europe's top club competition. We now have 36 teams, but they won't be drawn into groups. Instead, we have the Champions League "league phase."

    Here is how it works:

    • Teams in positions 25 to 36 are eliminated in January
    • The 16 teams in positions 9 through to 24 play in the knockout phase playoffs, in February, to earn a place in the round of 16
    • The top eight go straight through to the round of 16, played in March