Champions League draw: Arsenal’s eight opponents confirmed
Arsenal have been drawn against their eight opponents for the league phase of the 2024/25 Champions League.
The new competition format will include a league phase featuring 36 clubs. Arsenal will play eight of those.
The Gunners will face two teams from Pot 1, Pot 2, Pot 3 and Pot 4.
UEFA have now revealed that Arsenal will take on Inter Milan, Atalanta, Sporting Lisbon and Girona away from home.
They will welcome Paris Saint-Germain, Shakhtar Donetsk, Dinamo Zagreb and Monaco to the Emirates Stadium.
The exact schedule for the fixtures will be released by UEFA on Saturday afternoon.
The new format will extend the league schedule into January, something which did not happen in the group stage.
Here is the schedule:
Matchday 1: September 17–19
Matchday 2: October 1-2
Matchday 3: October 22-23
Matchday 4: November 5-6
Matchday 5: November 26-27
Matchday 6: December 10-11
Matchday 7: January 21-22 (2025)
Matchday 8: January 29 (2025)
Arsenal have been handed a favourable draw on paper. Barring Inter and PSG, they should not have difficulty in beating the rest of the teams.
Nonetheless, they can’t be complacent and need to get the job done. The Gunners have to finish in the top eight to qualify for the last 16 directly.
Otherwise, the club would have to contend with a double-legged play-off in February.
The teams finishing ninth to 24th in the table will be involved in the knockout play-off round. Mikel Arteta’s side will be hoping to avoid such a situation.
