MONACO.- The new format of the Champions League will start with a first phase with duels between several of the most powerful clubs in Europe, with Liverpool-real MadridBarcelona-Bayern and City-Inter as some of the main clashes of the tournament.
The most prestigious club championship is launching a new competition system, with 36 participating teams (four more than under the old format) and in which each of them will play against eight rivals, according to the draw made this Thursday in Monaco.
The 36 clubs will fight to be as high as possible in a unified ranking table and thus qualify for the round of 16, according to the so-called ‘Swiss system’, often used in chess tournaments.
Replay of the last final
Real Madrid, the reigning Champions League champions, will play at the Santiago Bernabéu against Borussia Dortmund (in a repeat of the last final at Wembley), Milan, Salzburg and Stuttgart, and will face Liverpool, Atalanta, Lille and Brest away from home.
Another of the big favourites for the title, Manchester City, will host Inter, Club Brugge, Feyenoord and Sparta Prague and will visit Paris SG, Juventus, Sporting de Portugal and Slovan Bratislava.
The other giant of Spanish football, FC Barcelona, will play at home against Bayern Munich, Atalanta, Young Boys and Brest and away against Dortmund, Benfica, Red Star and Monaco.
In a draw that is fairly favourable to Spanish teams, Atlético will play in Madrid against Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen, Lille and Slovan and will visit PSG, Benfica, Salzburg and Sparta Prague.
The team with the least luck was Girona, which in its first participation in the top European club competition will have several prestigious rivals: Liverpool, Arsenal, Feyenoord and Slovan Bratislava will visit Montilivi, while the Catalan team will play away against PSG, Milan, PSV and Sturm Graz.
Other European football giants have had mixed luck: Bayern will only have PSG and Barça as main rivals (the others are Benfica, Shakhtar, Dinamo Zagreb, Feyenoord, Slovan Bratislava and Aston Villa), the French champions will have a much more difficult time, playing against Manchester City, Bayern, Atlético, Arsenal, PSV, Salzburg, Girona and Stuttgart.
