European champions Paris Saint-Germain learn demanding Champions League route

Paris Saint-Germain will begin their UEFA Champions League title defence with a demanding league-phase schedule that includes home meetings with FC Barcelona and Sporting CP, as well as away trips to Manchester City and Aston Villa.

The draw for the opening stage of the competition was completed on Thursday, with clubs now aware of the opponents they will face in the new European campaign.

The holders will play four matches at the Parc des Princes. FC Barcelona, Sporting CP, AS Roma and Slovan Bratislava will all visit Paris during the league phase.

Paris Saint-Germain’s four away fixtures will take them to Manchester City, Aston Villa, Villarreal and Como. The programme gives the European champions several high-profile contests, alongside meetings with teams from across the continent.

The draw also creates the prospect of reunions involving Yaya Toure and two of his former clubs, FC Barcelona and Manchester City.

With the schedule now set, Paris Saint-Germain have been handed a route that combines established European names with less familiar opposition. Their home games against FC Barcelona and AS Roma will be among the most prominent fixtures at the Parc des Princes, while the trips to Manchester City and Aston Villa provide two major tests away from home.

The defending champions will also face Sporting CP and Slovan Bratislava in Paris, before travelling to Villarreal and Como. Those fixtures complete a varied opening-stage line-up for the French club.

Real Madrid face Arsenal

Real Madrid have also been drawn against notable opposition, including Arsenal. The Gunners enter the competition as last season’s European runners-up and will provide one of the most significant names in the Spanish club’s schedule.

The meeting is one of the headline pairings from the draw, with Real Madrid set to face a side that reached the final of the previous UEFA Champions League campaign.

The first-round draw establishes the framework for the new season in Europe’s leading club competition. Each team now knows the opponents that await them as the league phase replaces the uncertainty of the opening weeks of the tournament.

Paris Saint-Germain’s position as holders ensures particular attention will fall on their campaign. They will have to balance four home assignments against four away matches, with Barcelona, Sporting CP, AS Roma and Slovan Bratislava coming to the Parc des Princes, and Manchester City, Aston Villa, Villarreal and Como hosting the champions.

The draw therefore sets up several notable storylines before the matches begin: Paris Saint-Germain’s title defence, their meetings with two of the competition’s most recognised clubs, and the possibility of Yaya Toure encountering FC Barcelona and Manchester City again.

Real Madrid’s pairing with Arsenal adds another major contest to a league phase containing a number of prominent European clubs.

The complete first-round draw for the UEFA Champions League was confirmed on Thursday, giving all participating teams their opponents for the opening stage of the new season.