The new Champions League is underway

Monaco, Aug 29 (EFE).- The new Champions League kicks off with great clashes, reunions, historic classics and unfinished business on the pitch, brought to the forefront of the football calendar at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, with the legendary Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and the legendary Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo as masters of ceremonies, innocent hands in charge of mapping out the competitive paths of the teams.

The Champions League of change has begun. Like any other variation worth its salt, it is full of incentives and the hope of a positive step forward that responds to the sporting and economic demands of the new times and addresses and puts to bed the idea of ​​a Super League that has been hovering over football in the Old Continent for some time and that calls into question the organisational power of UEFA.

The Champions League, which will have 36 teams, four more than until now, was set up quickly and brilliantly. There was no possibility of ‘hot balls’; it was only conditioned by the whim of the computer, of the technology that in one fell swoop established the eight teams that accompanied a ninth, drawn, this time, from a pot.

Spanish football will therefore have four representatives for the next European season: Real Madrid, the reigning champions, Barcelona, ​​Atlético Madrid and Girona, one of the Champions League debutants and for whom every duel is a prize.

With the only premise that teams from the same federation do not face each other in the first phase, the initial part of the tournament was established, with four groups of nine clubs. There will be no round-trip as until now. Four of them will play home games and the other four away games. There will also be no group classification. Instead, there will be a general classification of the 36. The first eight will go directly to the round of 16. From nine to twenty-four will be paired for another round of 16 from which the teams that complete the round of 16 will emerge. The last twelve in the general classification will be eliminated. They will not go to the Europa League either.

Defending champions Real Madrid will once again face finalists Borussia Dortmund. They will also visit Anfield to meet Liverpool once again. They will also face Alvaro Morata’s Milan and Atalanta again, who they beat in the Super Cup weeks ago. Austrian Salzburg, Bundesliga runners-up Stuttgart and French sides Brest and Lille complete their group. Los Blancos will host Dortmund, Milan, Salzburg and Stuttgart and will visit Liverpool, Atalanta, Lille and Brest.

“We know how difficult this competition is, the best teams are here. The difficulties are always at their highest level, they don’t change from one season to the next. This competition is special for us and we will do everything possible to win it, but we are aware of the difficulty. The system is new and we will do everything possible to get through to the next round, to be among the top eight,” said Emilio Butragueño, Real Madrid’s representative at the draw.

Barcelona are, theoretically, in the best position to face their coach Hansi Flick in the reunion with his former club Bayern Munich. They are also up against Real Madrid in that they face Borussia Dortmund, Atalanta and Brest. The other opponents are Benfica, Swiss side Young Boys, Red Star and Monaco.

The Blaugrana will host Bayern, Atalanta, Young Boys and Brest, and will visit Dortmund, Benfica, Red Star and Monaco.

“It’s something new for everyone and we’ll have to adapt. We’re happy with the level the team has shown so far, but there are strong rivals in the group. Barcelona is a strong club and their rivals won’t be happy. We always aim for the best,” said Bojan Krkic, coordinator of Barcelona’s football department.

Atlético Madrid will face Luis Enrique and Xabi Alonso. Paris Saint Germain and Bayer Leverkusen are two of their eight opponents in the so-called league phase. They will also face RB Leipzig, Benfica, Lille, Salzburg, Slovan Bratislava and Sparta Prague in the first phase.

The red-and-white team will host RB Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen, Lille and Slovan Bratislava, and will visit PSG, Benfica, Salzburg and Sparta Prague.

For Enrique Cerezo, president of Atlético Madrid, it is not yet possible to say “if the draw is good or not. You think it is good, like last year and then we had difficulties to qualify. The objective is to reach the round of 16. It is a requirement and I think we will achieve it. It is a new format, with many matches,” he said.

For Girona, the Champions League is a prize. Every match will be an incentive, a spectacle. Michel Sánchez’s team will face Liverpool, Paris Saint Germain, Arsenal, Milan, Feyenoord, PSV Eindhoven, Slovan Bratislava and Sturm Graz. Included in pot four, the least powerful, most of their opponents are historic, greats of European football.

Luis Enrique, Mikel Arteta and Alvaro Morata with Milan are some of the incentives with which the Spanish representative has been summoned. Míchel Sánchez’s team will receive Liverpool, Arsenal, Feenoord and Slovan Bratislava at Montilivi, and will visit PSG, Milan, PSV Eindhoven and Sturm Graz.

Girona believes it is experiencing a unique moment, “an afternoon to enjoy. For us it is a prize and being here is an achievement. We have been drawn against great teams. Liverpool, Arsenal. It is a source of pride for us,” said Pere Guardiola, the president of the Girona Board of Directors, on Movistar.

Buffon and Cristiano were the driving force behind the ceremony. Both burst onto the stage at the request of UEFA President Aleksandr Ceferin, who before setting out the official route made the awards presented to both. Gianluigi Buffon, for having the most international caps of all time, with 176, and Cristiano Ronaldo as the top scorer in the history of the competition, with 140 goals in more than eighteen years of career.

UEFA has taken advantage of the launch of a new format to take a step forward and delve deeper into the other aspects that leave the competition as it has been conceived until now in the past.

The renewal of the anthem, the technological update for its configuration, the increase in matches and prize money are aspects that have given freshness to the scene desired by the European body at the event scheduled to give shape to the tournament.

What hasn’t changed is the list of favourites, the initial bunch of candidates, the big clubs that have recently given lustre to the most important tournament at team level. There are the usual suspects: Real Madrid as the rival to beat. And Manchester City. Dominating in recent years, they lead the list of big contenders, which also includes Bayern Munich and the other English teams, such as Liverpool or Arsenal and also Paris Saint Germain, apparently weakened without Kylian Mbappe but a regular contender. And more so, led by the Spaniard Luis Enrique.

Barcelona, ​​Atlético Madrid, one of the most reinforced, Borussia Dortmund, current runners-up, Bayer Leverkusen, runners-up in the Europa League and dominators of the Bundesliga, with Xabi Alonso, Inter Milan or Milan or Juventus, from Serie A on the rise, give lustre to an event that grows from now on and that will be definitively established next Saturday, when the dates and matches are set.

Thirty-six participants for 144 matches – eighteen matches per round and eight rounds in total – from September 17, the first, to January 29, 2025, the last, in two time slots – 18:45 and 21:00 – make up the skeleton of the tournament.

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, champions two seasons ago, have eluded the Spanish teams. They will play at home against Inter, Club Brugge, Feyenoord and Sparta Prague. The Spanish coach will, however, face his former teammate, Luis Enrique. They will visit Paris Saint Germain and then Juventus, Sporting Lisbon and Slovan Bratislava. The first group to be formed was the Premier League champion, which set the pace for the rest.

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