The draw for this season’s Champions League has given us eight opponents, some of whom have a long history, but there are also a few new faces.

Our eight matches will see us take on the Italian, French, Portuguese, Ukrainian and Croatian champions, as well as the reigning Europa League champions. Here’s a breakdown of the opponents in our battle for a place in the last 16:

Inter Milan

How they qualified: Italian Champions
Best European Cup performance: 3x winners (1963/64, 1964/65, 2009/10)
Last season: Champions League Round of 16

Inter won only their second Serie A title in the last 14 seasons in style, clinching the title with five games remaining with a 2-1 win over rivals Milan, who finished 19 points behind them. After finishing runners-up in the Champions League the previous year, Simeone Inzaghi’s side failed to progress beyond the last 16 as they were beaten on penalties by Atletico Madrid, but they did win the Italian Super Cup.

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This is the first time we have faced the Nerazzurri since one of our best European nights ever, when we won 5-1 at the San Siro in the 2003/04 group stage. We took revenge for a 3-0 defeat at Highbury thanks to a double from Thierry Henry, plus goals from Freddie Ljungberg, Edu and Robert Pires.

Paris Saint-Germain

How they qualified: French champions
Best European Cup performance: Second place (2019/20)
Last season: Champions League semi-finals

Last season, they claimed a tenth Ligue 1 title in 12 years, while Luis Enrique concluded his first season as manager with a domestic double. However, the Champions League title they crave continues to elude them as, despite reaching the semi-finals for the third time in five seasons, they were beaten by finalists Borussia Dortmund. Kylian Mbappe left for Real Madrid this summer, marking the end of their Galacticos era.

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We boast an unbeaten record against the Parisians, having first met in the semi-finals of the 1993–94 European Cup Winners’ Cup. A 1-1 draw in France was followed by a 1-0 home win with the late Kevin Campbell scoring the crucial goal to secure our place in the final. There were also two draws in the group stage of the 2016–17 Champions League when Unai Emery was in charge of PSG.

Shakhtar Donetsk

How they qualified: Ukrainian champions
Best European Cup performance: Quarter Finals (2010/11)
Last season: Champions League group stage, Europa League knockout round play-offs

Shakhtar retained the Ukrainian Premier League title, but were narrowly beaten by Dynamo Kyiv, before beating Vorskla Poltava to win the Ukrainian Cup. A third-place finish in their Champions League group saw them qualify for the Europa League, where they were eliminated in the play-offs by Marseille. While they continue to play their domestic matches on home soil, their European matches will be held in Germany at the Schalke Arena.

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All four of our previous meetings have been in the Champions League. The first was in 2000 when a rare Martin Keown brace secured a 3-2 victory over Highbury, and with qualification already assured we lost 3-0 in the return leg. 10 years later we recorded a crushing 5-1 victory at the Emirates Stadium, but were again defeated in Donetsk when former Gunner Eduardo scored the winning goal in a 2-1 defeat.

Atalanta

How they qualified: Europa League holders
Best European Cup performance: Quarterfinals (2019/20)
Last season: Europa League Winners

Atalanta ended a 61-year wait for a major honour when they won the Europa League, bringing the trophy back to Bergamo. They beat unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 in the final thanks to a hat-trick from former Everton and Charlton player Ademola Lookman. They also came close to winning the Coppa Italia, but were beaten in the final by Juventus and finished fourth in Serie A.

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Never stood against each other

Dinamo Zagreb

How they qualified: Play-off winners (beat Qarabag 5-0 agg)
Best European Cup performance: Group stage (nine times)
Last season: Europa League play-offs, Conference League eighth finals

Another side to complete a domestic double, albeit after a change of manager after Sergej Jakirovic replaced former Liverpool midfielder Igor Biscan in August 2023. They were knocked out in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League and Europa League, but did reach the last 16 of the Conference League after eliminating Real Betis, but lost to PAOK. They won the title by eight points ahead of Rijeka, who they also beat in the Croatian Cup final.

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Our first meetings came in the 2006/07 Champions League qualifiers, booking our place in the group stage thanks to a 3-0 win in Croatia before a 2-1 victory in the first ever European match at the Emirates Stadium. Dinamo ended a 16-year wait for a group stage win at our expense in 2015/16, before avenging that 2-1 defeat with a 3-0 win as Alexis Sanchez scored twice.

Sporting Lisbon

How they qualified: Portuguese Champions
Best European Cup performance: Quarter-finals (1982/83)
Last season: Europa League Round of 16

A second Primeira Liga title in four years came for Lisbon last season as they finished 10 points clear of Benfica, but their other main rival for domestic honours would exact revenge as the Lions lost the Portuguese Cup final to Porto. Their hopes of winning a European trophy for the first time since 1964 were ended by Atalanta in the last 16 of the Europa League.

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We have a rich history, dating back to 1969/70 when a John Radford goal and a George Graham brace saw us through on our successful Fairs Cup run. In 2018 we played two group games in the Europa League – Danny Welbeck’s strike saw us triumph at the Estadio Jose Alvalade before a 0-0 draw at the Emirates Stadium secured us a place in the knockout stages, while last year we were knocked out of the same competition when Sporting triumphed on penalties in the last 16 after a 2-2 away draw and a 1-1 draw in North London.

Monaco

How they qualified: Second place in France
Best European Cup performance: Second place (2003/04)
Last season: Not in European competition

The principality side secured a return to the Champions League for the first time since 2018/19 last season after finishing second to PSG, albeit nine points behind, and were knocked out of the French Cup by third-division Rouen in the last 16. They are reunited with Folarin Balogun, who scored eight goals in 32 games in his debut season with the club after moving from north London.

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Our only competitive encounters with Monaco came in the 2014/15 season when the French giants knocked us out in the round of 16. They roared into a 3-1 lead in the first leg at the Emirates Stadium when a last-minute Yannick Carrasco strike proved crucial as, despite winning 2-0 at the Stade Louis II thanks to goals from Olivier Giroud and Aaron Ramsey, we were eliminated on away goals.

Gerona

How they qualified: Third place in Spain
Best European Cup performance: Debut
Last season: Not in European competition

An incredible campaign from the City Football Group-owned club saw them top La Liga in February after just one defeat in their opening 22 games. Although they were eventually overtaken by Real Madrid and Barcelona, ​​​​whom they overtook for a league double, they achieved their best ever performance in their fourth ever season in the Spanish top division to qualify for Europe for the first time.

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Never faced each other