Villa ‘will be rocking’ as they land Bayern Munich in Champions League draw

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Champions League debutants Aston Villa will host Bayern Munich in a repeat of the 1982 European Cup final after being handed a dream draw for the revamped tournament.
Villa’s first appearance in Europe’s premier club competition since they were defending champions 41 years ago will also see them take on the team who ended their reign, Juventus, and Scottish champions Celtic in a “Battle of Britain” showdown.
All three ties will be at Villa Park in a major boost to the bid by Unai Emery’s side to qualify for the knockout stages.
The draw for the new 36-team Champions League group stage threw up several repeats of previous European Cup finals, including pitting Liverpool against Real Madrid, as well as AC Milan in the 20th anniversary season of the Merseysiders’ iconic 2005 triumph.
Manchester City were also paired with Internazionale, who they beat in their treble-winning campaign just over a year ago to end their long wait for Champions League glory.
But it was Villa’s draw which stood out after they were handed a hat-trick of glamour home ties.
Director of football operations Damian Vidagany said: “It’s hard not to smile being here.”
Hailing the Bayern tie as “closing the circle” from 42 years earlier, he said he expected Villa Park to be “rocking” for four home ties that had handed the club “the opportunity to qualify”.
He added: “But I think that this is something that the Villa fans and the parents and grandparents, and the people that didn’t have the luck to live this, they deserve. 
“They deserve it and we want not only to be there but also to give good football and then to deliver results. Because it’s something that I think is emotional for Aston Villa. For many years one of the teams that England was proud of, and now we want to be again one of the teams that England is proud of.
“What we need is to make sure Villa fans are sure we are going to give everything and we are going to win matches. Not just to be there and listen to the Champions League music but also to celebrate after the match.”
There was no immediate reaction to Thursday’s draw from the most famous of those fans, the Prince of Wales, who was born a few weeks after Villa were crowned European champions.
Confirming he had yet to receive a message from Prince William, Vidagany said: “I’m sure there will be [one]. He is an amazing person and always supports us.”
Uefa had promised the draw for a group stage where each club will play eight instead of six matches would throw up more attractive ties than in previous seasons.
And it appeared to deliver, with Liverpool also hosting Xabi Alonso’s “invincible” German Double-winners Bayer Leverkusen, Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven and City Football Group-owned Spanish upstarts Girona.
City were handed ties with French champions Paris Saint-Germain, Italian giants Juventus and Portuguese champions Sporting Lisbon.
Arsenal ended up with Inter, PSG and Girona, along with Sporting Lisbon and Europa League winners Atalanta, while Celtic appeared to enjoy a kind draw by avoiding most of Europe’s big guns.
The computerised draw also determined which fixtures each club would play home and away, although the match schedule will not be published until Saturday.
Proceedings at the Grimaldi Forum in Monte Carlo appeared to go off without a hitch as Uefa and its president, Aleksander Ceferin, sent themselves up in a video mocking their efforts to explain the controversial new Champions League format.
There will be a repeat of three European Cup finals for the Premier League’s Champions League contingent after an elongated draw marked the arrival of Uefa’s new expanded tournament.
With each team in the group stage guaranteed eight lucrative matches before the knockout stage, supporters and players will have to get used to the new tournament.
Critics have argued the new-look tournament, containing 36 teams playing 144 games between them, will create less drama and more dead rubbers towards the end of the group phase.
With all the clubs contained in a giant 36-team league, only the top eight sides will automatically reach the round of 16 with teams 9-24 entered into a two-leg play-off to determine who goes through.
Mikel Arteta will be relatively happy with this draw and will be aiming for a top-eight finish. There will be testing away trips to Italy to take on Inter Milan and Atalanta and a tough game at home to PSG who have started life without Kylian Mbappé looking confident and retain a dangerous core of exciting attacking players. 
Inter were champions of Serie A last season and were in the Champions League final a year ago while Atalanta, who finished fourth, will be dangerous especially on the road. They gave Liverpool a hiding at Anfield in the Europa League last season and much will depend on that game in terms of where Arsenal finish. 
But the rest of the group looks relatively kind, particularly the home games against Shakhtar Donetsk, Monaco and Dinamo Zagreb. Arsenal may even be through before their final match, when we are all feeling exhausted by the whole thing.
A repeat of the 1982 European Cup final awaits Unai Emery in the form of German giants Bayern Munich. The match would have attracted plenty of media attention even without the return of England captain Harry Kane to these shores, but that adds extra spice.
Bayern reached the semi-finals last season and will once again be among the favourites this year. They will certainly be targeting a top-eight finish in this new-look league and, let’s face it, they will do just that.
That game feels a little bit like a free hit for Villa, who have never qualified for the Champions League before. A better indicator of how well equipped they are for this level of competition will come with the away game against RB Leipzig – consistent qualifiers for this competition and the home game against Juventus.
Brugge, Young Boys and Bologna all look beatable but the other main attraction is the “Battle of Britain” tie, at home, to Celtic. Four wins from eight should be enough to qualify for the round of 16. Like Arsenal, they may need something from their eighth and final game to be sure. In fact, they are probably much more likely to do so. Save the date. Or not.
Another European Cup final repeat with a glamorous game against holders Real Madrid at Anfield will set the pulses racing. Briefly at least. The home game against German champions Leverkusen will also see Xabi Alonso – heavily linked with replacing Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool manager before declaring he wanted to stay in Germany – return to Merseyside.
His presence will be an intriguing sub-plot for the man who got the job, Arne Slot, with many suggesting at the time that Alonso was first choice.
The rest of the group seems fairly bland. An away trip to Leipzig is dull, but fans will enjoy seeing San Siro again when they take on AC Milan.
The other four games look like matches Liverpool should win comfortably. It is hard to know what will be good enough to secure a top-eight finish in this new format but that is what Liverpool will be hoping for with this run of fixtures. I am going to say yes, see you in the round of 16, Liverpool.
OK, so here is a bold prediction for you. Manchester City are going to cruise through this group just like they did under the old format and their final two games will be dead rubbers with Pep Guardiola able to rest his big-name stars. You can change the format but you cannot change the fact City are far too good for almost every side in Europe.
They will at least have an arduous-looking away game against PSG and a tough work-out against Italian champions Inter, but you fully expect them to win at least one of these games.
With the possible exception of travelling to Turin to take on Juventus, the rest of the games look straightforward enough. City should win all five at a canter. You suspect this will all feel rather predictable and inevitable. City will reach the round of 16 but will benefit from the revenue from two extra games in the process. Welcome to the new Champions League – it will end up being remarkably similar to the old one.
Not the easiest for Man City with Juventus away a thorny fixture from pot two, in addition to a trip to PSG and Inter at home. You would fancy them to put Club Brugge, Feyenoord and Sparta Prague to the sword at the Etihad. It is thought around 15 points from eight games will be enough for a top-eight finish.
It is a similar story for Arsenal, who have some favourable home games against Dinamo Zagreb, Monaco and Shakhtar Donetsk. Inter do not quite have the teeth of a few years ago, and PSG no longer have Kylian Mbappe, so Mikel Arteta will be happy enough. 
Liverpool, given their European record at Anfield, will be pleased that their headline grabbing ties against Real Madrid and Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen are at home.
Aston Villa have two mammoth home games against Bayern Munich and Juventus, but the rest of their schedule does not look too daunting. Away games against RB Leipzig and Monaco could be decisive.
✅ Home and away opponents for Pot 2 teams 🏠✈️#UCLdraw pic.twitter.com/DHAAIG5uxB
✅ Home and away opponents for Pot 1 teams 🏠✈️#UCLdraw pic.twitter.com/4bwEU4zCqq
Sturm Graz’s eight games:
Leipzig (H)Dortmund (A)Brugge (H)Atalanta (A)Sporting (H)Lille (A)Girona (H)Brest (A)
Monaco’s eight games:
Barcelona (H)Inter (A)Benfica (H)Arsenal (A)Crvena Zvezda (H)Dinamo (A)Aston Villa (H)Bologna (A)
Brest’s eight games:
Real Madrid (H)Barcelona (A)Leverkusen (H)Shakhtar (A)PSV (H)Salzburg (A)Sturm Graz (H)Sparta Praha (A)
Sparta Prague’s eight games:
Inter (H)Man City (A)Atletico (H)Leverkusen (A)Salzburg (H)Feyenoord (A)Brest (H)Stuttgart (A)
Bayern Munich (H)Leipzig (A)Juventus (H)Brugge (A)Celtic (H)Young Boys (A)Bologna (H)Monaco (A)
Dortmund (H)Liverpool (A)Shakhtar (H)Benfica (A)Lille (H)Sporting (A)Monaco (H)Aston Villa (A)
Liverpool (H)PSG (A)Arsenal (H)Milan (A)Feyenoord (H)PSV (A)Bratislava (H)Sturm Graz (A)
PSG (H)Real Madrid (A)Atalanta (H)Juventus (A)Young Boys (H)Crvena Zvezda (A)Sparta Praha (H)Bratislava (A)
Man City (H)Leipzig (A)Arsenal (H)Brugge (A)Lille (H)PSV (A)Bologna (H)Sturm Graz (A)
Leipzig (H)Dortmund (A)Brugge (H)Atalanta (A)Young Boys (H)Dinamo (A)Bratislava (H)Aston Villa (A)
PSG (H)Real Madrid (A)Atletico (H)Leverkusen (A)Dinamo (H)Feyenoord (A)Brest (H)Sparta Praha (A)
Barcelona (H)Inter (A)Benfica (H)Milan (A)PSV (H)Young Boys (A)Stuttgart (H)Monaco (A)
Dortmund (H)Bayern Munich (A)Milan (H)Arsenal (A)Celtic (H)Salzburg (A)Monaco (H)Bratislava (A)
Bayern Munich (H)Man City (A)Leverkusen (H)Benfica (A)Salzburg (H)Lille (A)Sparta Praha (H)Girona (A)
Liverpool (H)PSG (A)Shakhtar (H)Juventus (A)Sportin (H)Crvena Zvezda (A)Girona (H)Brest (A)
Real Madrid (H)Liverpool (A)Juventus (H)Atletico (A)Feyenoord (H)Sporting (A)Sturm Graz (H)Bologna (A)
There looks a winnable home tie in there for Aston Villa.
Inter (H)Barcelona (A)Atalanta (H)Shakhtar (A)Crvena Zvezda (H)Celtic (A)Aston Villa (H)Stuttgart (A)
Inter (H)Liverpool (A)Milan (H)Atletico (A)Salzburg (H)Feyenoord (A)Sparta Prague (A)Brest (A)
Bayern Munich (H)Dortmund (A)Atalanta (H)Arsenal (A)Young Boys (H)PSV (A)Brest (H)Bologna (A)
Man City (H)Leipzig (A)Benfica (H)Brugge (A)PSV (H)Lille (A)Stuttgart (H)Aston Villa (A)
Liverpool (H)Real Madrid (A)Brugge (H)Leverkusen (A)Crvena Zvezda (H)Dinamo (A)Girona (H)Bratislava (A)
Barcelona (H)Bayern Munich (A)Atletico (H)Juventus (A)Feyenoord (H)Crvena Zvezda (A)Bologna (H)Monaco (A)
PSG (H)Inter (A)Shakhtar (H)Atalanta (A)Dinamo (H)Sporting (A)Monaco (H)Girona (A)
Dortmund (H)Man City (A)Juventus (H)Milan (A)Sporting (H)Celtic (A)Aston Villa (H)Sturm Graz (A) 
Real Madrid (H)Barcelona (A)Arsenal (H)Shakhtar Donetsk (A)Celtic (H)Young Boys (A)Sturm Graz (H)Stuttgart (A)
Leipzig (H)PSG (A)Leverkusen (H)Benfica (A)Lille (H)Salzburg (A)Bratislava (H)Sparta Praha (A)
RB Leipzig (H)Man City (A)Arsenal (H)Bayer Leverkusen (A)Red Star Belgrade (H)Young Boys (A)Monaco (H)Sparta Prague (A)
So Arsenal’s two pot one opponents are confirmed: they will play Inter away and PSG at home.
Man City (H)Bayern Munich (A)Atletico (H)Arsenal (A)PSV (H)Salzburg (A)Girona (H)Stuttgart (A)
Real Madrid (H)Leipzig (A)Leverkusen (H)Milan (A)Lille (H)PSV (A)Bologna (H)Girona (A)
Here are the holders eight games:
Dortmund (H)Liverpool (A)Milan (H)Atalanta (A)Salzburg (H)Lille (A)Stuttgart (H)Brest (A)
Bayern Munich (H)Dortmund (A)Atalanta (H)Benfica (A)Young Boys (H)Crvena Zvezda (A)Brest (H)Monaco (A)
Here are RB Leipzig’s eight games:
Liverpool (H)Inter (A)Juventus (H)Atletico (A)Sporting (H)Celtic (A)Aston Villa (H)Sturm Graz (A)
And here are Borussia Dortmund:
Barcelona (H)Real Madrid (A)Shakhtar (H)Club Brugge (A)Celtic (H)GNK Dinamo (A)Sturm Graz (H)Bologna (A)
One of Villa’s home games will be against Bayern Munich. A repeat of the 1982 final!
Villa will not know their full eight games for some time, as they are in pot four.
Here are Bayern Munich’s eight games:
PSG (H)Barcelona (A)Benfica (H)Shakhtar (A)Dinamo (H)Feyenoord (A)Bratislava (H)Aston Villa (A)
As well as playing Man City away, they will host Arsenal. Significant news for the English teams. 
A repeat of the 2023 final for City. Arsenal back at the scene of their 5-1 victory in 2003 when they become the first English club to win in the San Siro.
Buffon draws the ball, Ronaldo will then push a button, Family Fortunes style, to 
Inter (H)PSG (A)Brugge (H)Juventus (A)Feyenoord (H)Sporting CP (A)Sparta Prague (H)Slovan Bratislava (A) 
The following nine teams will be drawn at random, one at a time, and discover their eight fixtures: Man City, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, PSG, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig and Barcelona.
Uefa’s explanation of the logistics is making this sound a bit more complicated than it really is. All you need to know, if you’re a Villa, Arsenal, City, Liverpool or Celtic fan, is you will shortly be given a list of eight fixtures against eight teams.
A new era begins. The best club competition in the world just got better.#UCLdraw || #UCL pic.twitter.com/XWcKlgrpLd
Uefa has decided to explain the new format through a scripted piece of drama, with numerous footballers past and present struggling to make head or tail of “the script”. 
Fortunately, Zlatan Ibrahimovic is on hand to save the day for Ceferin and assure “the fans” that they are getting what they want. After a cursory explanation, he tells Ceferin (centre stage throughout) to “let the tournament speak for itself”.
36 teams, one league, each team plays eight games…you surely know by now.
Fair play to Uefa and Aleksander Ceferin for sending themselves up over the confusion caused by the Champions League format. Who knew they had a sense of humour?
His trophy cabinet has been looking a bit sparse, so Uefa have helped him out with a prize that will take pride of place in his downstairs toilet. So long as it doesn’t block the mirror he uses to stare at his reflection.
Some humour from Ceferin who says he has a bone to pick with Ronaldo: he no longer plays in the “best competition”. The Saudi Pro League might have something to say about that. He then says, because Ronaldo is the one person who never seems to get older, maybe one day he will return.
Ronaldo will join Buffon on stage for the draw.
Cristiano Ronaldo has been honoured with a special award for being the Champions League’s all-time top goal scorer (140) 🐐 pic.twitter.com/zjozXuh65R
Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin has welcomed the seemingly ageless Gigi Buffon to the stage. A safe pair of hands etc etc.
Buffon is receiving the equivalent of a lifetime achievement award, as the goalkeeper with the most Champions League appearances and, as Ceferin says, an advocate for “deprivileged people”.
The former Juventus goalkeeper will also be helping with the draw.
We start with Welsh opera singer Katherine Jenkins singing the Champions League anthem, which of course is a direct lift from Handel’s Zadok the Priest, featured at the King’s Coronation. No Pedro Pinto directing proceedings that day though.
Not sure how much the Champions League anthem was enhanced by Katherine Jenkins’ performance there. Her voice was almost drowned out by the soundtrack.
Baresi’s hair now looking much like Antonio Conte’s did during his playing days…
Uefa officials have been sweating ahead of today’s Champions League draw and not just because of the competition’s convoluted new format and draw process. It is stiflingly hot in Monte Carlo although, thankfully, much cooler inside the Grimaldi Forum where proceedings are taking place. Those involved in the draw are leaving nothing to chance, with extra rehearsals having been held, all of which were said to have concluded without a hitch. So, it should be all right on the night then…?
There would be some symmetry were Bayern Munich to be one of their two Pot One opponents, 42 years on from beating the German giants to lift the European Cup in Rotterdam. The first home game at Villa Park will be the date for fans’ diaries but that will not be confirmed until Saturday.
And Aston Villa’s delegation, including Monchi on the right, have arrived in Monaco for the draw:
On the scene in Monaco 😎 pic.twitter.com/7qBb0rmYZm
That is the type of fixture we could see more often in the first phase of the new-look tournament.
No notes. 💯 https://t.co/ELlLPLMYN7 pic.twitter.com/uYvM1CToNv
Pot One: Man City, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, PSG, Liverpool, Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Barcelona
Pot Two: Bayer Leverkusen, Atletico Madrid, Atlanta, Juventus, Benfica, Arsenal, Club Brugge, Shakhtar Donetsk, AC Milan
Pot Three: Feyenoord, Sporting CP, PSV, Young Boys, Celtic, Red Bull Salzburg, Dinamo Zagreb, Red Star Belgrade, Lille
Pot Four: AS Monaco, Sparta Prague, Aston Villa, Bologna, Girona, Stuttgart, Sturm Graz, Stade Brestois, Slovan Bratislava
More of a revolution than a revamp. It is the biggest change in format for 20 years, since there were two group-stage mini leagues before the knockouts. From this season, the competition will adopt the ‘Swiss Model’. Instead of groups of four, there will be one league of 36 teams. Each team will be drawn to play eight matches against different opponents, half at home and half away.
Uefa will trot out the usual line about evolving the competition. But the bottom line is that there are four more teams in the group stages and each club gets two more games. More TV broadcasting money, more gate receipts and more supporters travelling across the continent. If the competition were not making money, would they be adding to the calendar and making the group stage eight games over 10 match-weeks? At the moment there are six match-weeks.
The draw seedings means there will be some big-hitters playing each other in the group stage. Manchester City, for instance, hardly got a mouth-watering draw last season when they faced RB Leipzig, Young Boys and Red Star Belgrade. This season the clubs will be split into four pots for the draw and every team will get two clubs from Pot 1. Potential for showpiece matches between Europe’s heavyweights.
The top eight will automatically qualify for the round of 16, so they could secure a place early and then rest big players for important matches at the weekend. Those finishing between ninth and 24th go into two-legged play-offs. So every place counts. But if a team cannot finish in the top eight, does it matter too much who they face in the play-offs? The battle for 24th will be exciting.
As with previous years, the top four will automatically make it through but there is room for three extra spots should everything fall into place. To bring in the four extra teams Uefa will reserve an extra spot to the country which performs the best overall across all three of their competitions. 
It means five Premier League clubs can qualify although, in something of a surprise, that did not materialise last season. Arsenal and Manchester City were knocked out in the Champions League quarter-finals, while Liverpool and Aston Villa lost in the semi-finals of their respective competitions. Manchester United did not make it out of their Champions League group.
There will be no buffer of the Europa League like years gone by. There will be some jeopardy lost there, as Manchester United were fighting for a Europa League place in their final group match this season. From now, those finishing 25th or below will be eliminated and use that old football adage – concentrate on the league. The Europa League and Europa Conference are also using the Swiss Model format.
Fans will be stretched to afford another trip to add to their schedule. If there are dead rubbers towards the end of the group stage, you could see supporters skipping matches. Uefa has made it pretty tough to get knocked out too. Finishing in the top 24 should not even be a minimum expectation for Premier League clubs. It will be a longer group stage but there are questions whether it adds to the drama of the whole tournament. Only Manchester United v Bayern Munich (1999) and AC Milan v Ajax (1995) saw group-stage matches repeated in the final – but there is a stronger possibility of that happening in this format. There is a bigger chance of repeat fixtures in the knockout stages from earlier in the season.
The Swiss Model was devised for chess, but it is not a system used frequently in football. It is also used in croquet, although a more relevant use would be e-sports. So it is a step into the unknown for Uefa, although it was voted in unanimously so their executives must have faith in it.
Good afternoon and welcome to our live coverage of the Champions League league phase (do not adjust your sets, that is not a typo) draw, with Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Aston Villa supporters among the interested parties.
This is barely a draw at all really, but old habits die hard. In the new ‘Swiss model format’, expanded to 36 teams, all of the clubs will compete against each other in one big league table rather than eight groups of four. Each team will play eight matches against eight different opponents, four at home and four away, with two opponents drawn from each of the four pots.
The motivation behind this change is, you guessed it, the prospect of increased revenues through two extra matches. Teams who finish between ninth and 24th after the league phase will face an extra four matches with the introduction of a two-legged play-off to reach the last 16. Managers are in uncharted territory when it comes to pacing their players through the rhythms of this new league phase, but they will be keen to avoid those extra matches.
Two big changes to be aware of: there is a strong possibility of more heavyweight fixtures pre-Christmas (which will please Uefa’s money men). In last year’s group stage, Man City faced RB Leipzig, Red Star Belgrade and Young Boys while Arsenal were pitted against Sevilla, Lens and PSV in two low-key groups. This time, there is a decent chance of playing at least one of Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Barcelona et al. Secondly, the extra two matches will be played in January, looming over the early rounds of the FA Cup.As for the draw, the new system simply involves too many multiples and permutations to be done manually using bowls full of Uefa-branded, star-spangled plastic balls.Instead, each of 36 teams will have one ball in the bowl. Each of the nine Pot One teams will be drawn out first, before their eight fixtures are spat out by a supercomputer. These will be displayed on a screen for the audience to see. With the teams in Pot Two already aware of their two Pot One opponents, they will be drawn out of the bowl and their remaining six fixtures revealed. And so on, through Pot Three and Pot Four.Every team will then know their eight fixtures, though not necessarily the order in which they will be played. That will be confirmed by Uefa on Saturday. Got it?