Champions League league phase draw in full as Man Utd and Arsenal learn their fate

ENGLISH football’s Champions League sides have learned their fates for the league phase. The Premier League has five representatives in the tournament this year thanks to its stellar European coefficient. The Champions League league phase draw has been completed Credit: Shutterstock Editorial Arsenal and Manchester United were among the clubs to learn their fate for the early stages of the competition Credit: Getty Among them are grizzled continental veterans like Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City, returning giants in Manchester United, and dark horses Aston Villa. Each has been drawn against eight opponents as they battle to book their spots in the knockouts starting in February. Sign up for the Arsenal newsletter Thank you! This year’s draw was subject to restrictions to ensure that teams could not host the same opponent for a third year in a row in the league phase. That meant that going into the event, Liverpool were ineligible to be drawn at home against Real Madrid, and Arsenal away at Inter Milan. Arsenal are hoping to go one better than last season, after suffering a heartbreaking penalty shootout defeat against Paris Saint-Germain in the final. But they will have to navigate a number of tricky fixtures, including hosting Real Madrid at the Emirates. But the Gunners will be hopeful that they can cruise through the league phase regardless of their fixtures after taking a flawless eight wins from eight in last year’s league phase. That run included wins over the likes of Bayern Munich, Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid, suggesting that Mikel Arteta and Co are happy to face down any opposition that comes their way. Most read in Sport Michael Carrick‘s United will hope that they can fare better than they managed in their Premier League opener against Hull City. BEST ONLINE CASINOS – TOP SITES IN THE UK The Red Devils fell to a 2-0 defeat at MKM Stadium after a calamitous display of defending. They will have to up their game to contend with their assigned Champions League competition. Aston Villa are another side who will need to step things up after suffering a 4-0 thrashing on opening weekend at the hands of Brighton. The Europa League champions have been asset stripped this window, losing stars like Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans, Ollie Watkins and Lucas Digne – while deals for Nicolas Jackson and Joao Gomes, among others, may struggle to fill in the gaps. They were probably not hoping to see an away game at Barcelona pulled out of the draw, in that case. Manchester City will get the chance to prove why they splashed the cash on a number of stars, including a British record fee for Elliot Anderson and another £85million for Morocco star Ayyoub Bouaddi. But a number of attacking exits may test Enzo Maresca‘s depth, especially with some tough tests sure to push his side to their limit. They will host champions Paris Saint-Germain and face an away test against Barcelona and their former talisman Rodri. Kevin De Bruyne’s Napoli will also make the journey to the Etihad, as well as Sporting and AEK Athens. Liverpool are hoping to reclaim their reputation as a European powerhouse under new manager Andoni Iraola. With the injury catastrophes of last season behind them, the Spaniard’s side should be firing on all cylinders for their league phase campaign. But they will face exiled star Curtis Jones away at his new home, Inter Milan Comment now