Arsenal’s eight opponents for the league phase of the new-look Champions League have been confirmed.
After an excruciatingly drawn-out event in Monaco, the computer-led draw has pitched us against:
- Internazionale (A)
- Paris Saint-Germain (H)
- Atalanta (A)
- Shakhtar (H)
- Dinamo Zagreb (H)
- Sporting Lisbon (A)
- Monaco (H)
- Girona (A)
Those of you looking to book flights and hotels will have to wait a little longer. The fixture list with match dates and kick-off times will be confirmed on Saturday to ensure there are no calendar clashes with teams in the other European competitions playing in the same cities.
Matchday schedule:
Matchday 1: 17–19 September 2024 (note this includes a Thursday slot)
Matchday 2: 1/2 October 2024
Matchday 3: 22/23 October 2024
Matchday 4: 5/6 November 2024
Matchday 5: 26/27 November 2024
Matchday 6: 10/11 December 2024
Matchday 7: 21/22 January 2025
Matchday 8: 29 January 2025
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Head-to-head record:
- vs Inter
W1 L1 - vs PSG
W1 D3 L0 - vs Atalanta
(no previous matches) - vs Shakhtar
W2 L2 - vs Dinamo Zagreb
W3 L1 - Sporting Lisbon
W2 D3 L1 - Monaco
W1 L1 - Girona
(no previous matches)
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As has been well-documented the competition is going to be very different to the version we’ve grown accustomed to since the 90s.
To expand the tournament from 32 to 36 teams, Uefa have abandoned the traditional group stage and instead created a single league in which each team plays eight matches against eight different opponents with half of the games at home and half away.
To ensure there’s some level of balance as to who plays who, teams face two opponents from each of the four seeded pots.
In Uefa’s words, the new format means, “there is more to play for all the way through to the final night of the league phase.”
Of the 36 teams in the league phase, 24 will qualify. Those in the top eight will skip straight to a round of 16 knockout stage waiting for those placing 9th to 16th to fight it out with those who finish 17th to 24th. It’s worth noting that no teams will drop into the Europa League anymore.
This new format sucks.
Might turn out to be interesting once it all kicks off. But the fact that this stretches into January alongside all the meaningless international fixtures just doesn’t sit right with me in terms of players’ welfare. The games are becoming too many!
No matter, our own manager doesn’t seem fussed at how stretched our squad is so why should we as fans? Looking forward to Saka’s 60 starts this season.
it will definitely end up being interesting. The millions of euros or whatever running the champions league definitely have knowledge and teats of the entertainment level of things they do. They just make the decisions thinking of the money and not of the players or fans.
And they still end up cocking it up.
It kind of does but also that’s quite an exciting list of fixtures so I can see the appeal in having 8 different opponents!
I don’t understand why they couldn’t have just added 8 teams to the tournament and have 8 groups of 5. Everyone still plays 8 games as opposed to 6, and you don’t get this gimmicky draw where who you play where, when has a big effect. For example, Dynamo Zagreb away and Lille at home is probably much harder than Lille away and Dynamo Zagreb at home.
Quantity over quality. The end game of the greedy billionaires running modern football…
#ForMoneyNotProduct
The new format is a joke. It’s designed purely to generate more money. In terms of integrity it’s pathetic. It’s a league where somehow you avoid playing the majority of the other teams in it!
Sadly, I’m old enough to remember the old European Cup: it was a simple home-and-away knockout competition that was very exciting from start to finish. Why can’t we just have that?
Looking at these teams, we should qualify comfortably.
Is it wrong that I almost long for the days of Nayim from the halfway line
Yes: I’ve spent decades trying to forget that terrible night.
Too soon?
Yes. That’s just weird.
the format is actually alright, but from what i understand, every team will play 2 more matches than before, and some will even play 4… i don’t know who thought that was a good idea given the already very packed schedule players have…
Imagine FA Cup draw like this – take longer than series of Strictly!
The old format sucks too
More variety. Fewer dead rubbers in group stage Seeding means no chance of getting shafted by the draw at the QF stage like last year. I hate to advocate for UEFA but I’m not hating it.
Yes, a lot more variety. The group stages were mostly boring. Now it will be more unpredictable and more interesting for the smaller teams as well. But of course there are too many games.
Oof that’s a nasty looking list. Can’t take any of these lightly. Maybe we can change for Dinamo but that’s it. I hope the big clubs come towards the end and we’ve already qualified.
Doesn’t look bad to me
Atalanta spanked Liverpool on their way to lift the Europa cup. Girona finished comfortably ahead of everyone except the top two in Spain; they are better than their coefficients although they lost a lot of talent over the summer. We know about Sporting from a couple of years ago, arguably a better team now than they were when we faced them. They still have Amorim at the helm and Gyokeres leading the line. I look at those three as really difficult fixtures against well coached, tactically modern, talented squads with a track record of winning, all three away from home… Read more »
I feel like it’s got a pretty low ceiling but a high floor.
Inter and PSG are pretty beatable sides. But Girona and Monaco are tougher than many of the sides down the other end of the draw.
We’re also very lucky to play both Shakhtar and Zagreb at home as they are tough places to travel to.
All in all, should be fine. I would make us favourites in every single game.
Shakhtar
Dammit. Premature submission.
Shakhtar play their home games in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. So that wouldn’t have been too bad. But Zagreb, I agree. They have one of the most intimidating atmospheres in all of Europe.
yes but I’d say only slight favourites in some of them.
I’d prefer to play Shakhter ans Dinamo away, and some of the higher ranked teams at home instead.
It’s kind of an annoying draw in that it’s none of the glamour teams that make you really excited about a fixture but actually pretty tough draws against some of the teams who have performed the best in Europe last year. As Dr. Gooner says Atalanta not only spanked Liverpool, they were literally the only team I think to beat Xhaka and Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen last season who went unbeaten in all other competitions, and in the Europa until the final against Atalanta. Then you have Girona who were leading La Liga until around the same time we were leading… Read more »
I don’t know we struggled in most of our group stage games last season agains similar opposition. We should be winning most of these but they won’t be easy at all and I’m surprised so many think it’s an easy draw.
It’s about as easy as the new format allows. If we had fixed the draw, I suppose we would have chosen Club Brugge instead of Atalanta, and Young Boys instead of Sporting, but it’s a very good draw realistically. No difficult travel (only northern Italy, Catalonia, and Lisbon). With luck, the easiest games first, get a lot of points and glide.
Could have been worse…
I think that’s a good draw?
Agreed. Better than having to duel with the likes of Bayern and Madrid this early in the season.
Is this basically the super league now?
yeah that was my feeling too! profit runs the game 🙁
Yes, but without ManU
So you can finish 24th and still win the champions league?
Yes, that is a possibility.
Crap, isn’t it.
True, but in the old format it was possible to finish the group stage with two points and win the Champions League.
The most confusing draw I have ever watched. I watched the whole thing and I still do not understand what happened.
Seems like we’ll have less chance of dead rubber games now, which is good for the excitement, but not great for giving our fringe players a chance. We do need some easy cup ties for that, so Bolton at home is a good start.
well depends where you stand in the table come the end of the fixtures. You could win the first 6 games and easily be in the top 8 and so can rotate a bit more
Possibly, but we may need to win our last games to avoid drawing Bayern or Real Madrid. I do like that there’s some unknown to all this.
I’m going to miss the old format except we go down in history as the first team to win the UCL with this format. Then it’s the best idea ever ideaed
Or it becomes a caveat that we won it but it was under the batshit crazy rules.
Who cares who and when we play. It’s still football. It’s won on the pitch. Same rules. Hell football fans are a fragile bunch.
Reminds me of some stuff in Harold and Kumar. “What kind of hippie am I? Man I am a business hippie, I understand the concept of supply and demand ” Let’s get high on football
Not going to lie, from a neutral perspective, this format seems more exciting. No more looking at the group stage, calculating goal difference and points needed to win. Of course, in practice we will see.
Please @arseblog, how do you determine the top 8, is it by top 2 in each group or by general ranking in all groups
There’s only 1 group! Everyone is in 1 league, and each team plays 8 matches against other teams in the 36 team league. The top 8 go through, the next 16 go into playoffs and the bottom 8 go home. It’s a bit convoluted but not too hard to understand once it clicks.
Just got back from 3 weeks in Brela, Croatia. My friend there is a die hard Zagreb fan. We discussed this potential fixture, before they’d qualified. He’ll be there with bells on!
Like a cat
That’s the sporting balance gone. Its always been the same, You play sides both home and away, without that its 8 one legged ties.
A terrible change. As has been pointed out, you could get 8 games just by making groups of 5 and leaving everything else the same.
Or they could have just not changed it. We do not need more football.
All about money, enough said really
The group includes the current champions of Italy, France and Portugal as well as the Europa cup holders. For my money that’s exactly what I want when I watch the Champions’ league. I want to see Arsenal against a variety of the best clubs from Europe.
I don’t really know what is going on but I’m sure I’ll have plenty to moan about when I do
Thank goodness we got Shakhtar and Zagreb at home.
Shaktar will play in Gelsenkirchen with basically no home fans. I would trade that against Sporting or Atalanta any time.
Interesting
Pre-selected. 0 element of randomness like we had with the balls in the bowls. Embarrassing.
Schedule will be created by Man City lawyers to give them all the breaks.
Crocked.
Of course will have to get through this year to see if it’s a good idea or not, but certainly will be different. Really like our lineup of opponents, especially PSG at home. Definitely going to miss the home and away fixtures of the 4 team group phase, but this will provide two additional matches in the group stage and also more variety of opponents and some interesting intrigue I am sure the final rounds of group play.
I don’t understand this negativity towards this. The old format was utterly crap, with way too many dead rubbers over the final rounds. This should ensure more games where the the “big teams” have something to play for.
I don’t think any team has had an easy draw ( although the schedule of the tough games might be the big difference). City play Inter and PSG as well. Liverpool have Real, disgustingly-sweet-energy-drink Leipzig, Leverkusen and Milan. Villa has Bayern, Leipzig and Juve.
I can’t find Man United’s fixtures anywhere, though…
Yeah who are Chelsea playing?
They played some team today that sounds like it belongs on a table at a restaurant, beside the cutlery. And they lost to them.
Shout out to tim Stillman on his excellent Eddie Nketia post on the main blog. Fantastic read and all the best to our academy boy, do us proud with your future career Eddie!
Yeah I thought that was class
European Super League Beta Test 1.0
Bear in mind that Dinamo scalped Spurs, West Ham, Atalanta, Benfica, Chelsea and Real Betis in the last few years. This year Dinamo has the best team and many options from bench probably since I was a fan of Dinamo. And I was born in Zagreb. Still, I think Arsenal wins easily. Looks like I’ll get to visit Emirates for the first time in my life. Funnily, the only possible fixture where I won’t cheer for Gunners. Well, maybe I will a little bit. A win-win fixture for me. One thing I’m sure, the atmosphere is going to be nuts.… Read more »
Haha. So happy for you. I can imagine
Just watched his YouTube video and if we sign Santiago gimenez we will win the cl
Just very complicated to me.🤔🤔🤔
It’s a lot of matches. But this looks sweet.
Increasing the matches from 6 to eight is a disadvantage yet these very players are involved in other three cups in their respective domestic leagues plus international games for example
1. Premier League
2. Champions League
3 . FA cup
4. EFL cup
5. International Matches.
Players may end up playing between 70 to 80 Matches in 42 weeks, meaning 1.9 games @week, approximately 2 games.
Player’s health was not considered. This is bad, we start watching boring football.