There are eye-catching fixtures everywhere you look following Thursday's ceremony in Monaco as the competition's new format was laid out
The Champions League has returned – and with a brand new format. The tournament has been expanded to 36 teams and instead of a group stage, there'll be a league phase in which all of the participants play eight games against eight different teams (four at home, and four away).
The eight teams with the most points will progress directly to the last 16, while the teams ranked ninth to 24th will progress to a play-off round, with the remaining sides eliminated from Europe completely. The new format is, by its mere design, more egalitarian than ever before as every team, irrespective of their UEFA coefficient, must face two teams from every pool.
However, there's no denying that the draw went better for some clubs than others. Below, GOAL runs through all the big winners and losers from Thursday's ceremony in Monaco…
Getty ImagesWINNER: Harry Kane
Is this season that the Harry Kane curse is finally broken? Clearly, winning the Bundesliga represents an easier assignment for a Bayern Munich side that has been significantly strengthened during their summer transfer window, but the Bavarians will also be quietly confident of challenging for the Champions League again.
Last year's semi-finalists have drawn a couple of powerhouses in Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona, the latter of whom are coached by former boss Hansi Flick, and a trip to Aston Villa is fraught with danger, but Bayern's Pot Two teams (Benfica and Shakhtar Donetsk) are hardly intimidating.
Vincent Kompany's side look a good bet to progress directly to the last 16, and Kane should score plenty of goals against the likes of Dinamo Zagreb and Slovan Bratislava along the way.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesLOSER: Paris Saint-Germain
Paris Saint-Germain couldn't win the Champions League with Kylian Mbappe. So, what chance do they have of finally conquering Europe after being given a dreadful draw in Monte Carlo?!
Things really couldn't have gone much worse for the French champions, who ended up being paired with the two strongest sides in nearly every pot. Drawing Manchester City and Bayern was bad enough, but getting Atletico Madrid and Arsenal from Pot Two was particularly cruel, and it's not as if their Pot Three teams, PSV and Red Bull Salzburg, will be any pushovers either.
PSG have recruited some exciting young players during the summer, chief among them Joao Neves, but Luis Enrique's men might struggle to finish in the top eight in the league phase, which would mean dropping into the very unappealing play-off round.
Getty Images SportWINNER: Brendan Rodgers
Celtic's recent record in the Champions League is pretty atrocious, so they certainly won't be getting ahead of themselves after Thursday's draw. But Brendan Rodgers probably can't believe his luck right now, as the Bhoys have managed to avoid any of the really big boys.
Their two Pot One teams are RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund, while they pulled Club Brugge out of Pot Two. As Pot Four teams go, Aston Villa away is as tough as it comes, but Celtic unquestionably have a real shot at getting into the play-offs for the last 16, with home games to come against Leipzig, Brugge, Young Boys and Slovan Bratislava. The Scottish champions are capable of putting all four of those sides under real pressure in the cauldron that is Celtic Park.
GettyLOSER: Arne Slot
Arne Slot really could have done without being immediately measured against the man most Liverpool fans wanted to replace Jurgen Klopp as manager. However, Xabi Alonso is on his way back to Anfield with his brilliant, double-winning Bayer Leverkusen side, which went within one Europa League win of completing an undefeated treble last season.
Liverpool are undeniably lucky to have RB Leipzig as one of their Pot One opponents, but they don't have many happy memories of facing Real Madrid, while trips to Milan and Eindhoven will be nothing if not tricky.
The Reds definitely have the firepower to progress, but a top-eight finish looks far from straightforward for Slot in his first season on Merseyside, particularly for a squad that still looks a little short on cover in certain areas.
