Liverpool will play Real Madrid in the revamped 36-team Champions League competition, while Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick will return to Germany to face his former employers Bayern Munich.

Bayern will face Barca in the competition for the third time in the last four seasons. The German club have won their last six meetings, including an 8-2 quarter-final victory on their way to winning the 2020 Champions League under Flick.

The draw, conducted by a combination of Gianluigi Buffon, Cristiano Ronaldo and UEFA’s supercomputer, also produced some tough matches, including Manchester City v Paris Saint-Germain and a repeat of last year’s final: Borussia Dortmund v Madrid.

Arsenal avoided some of the most daunting teams in Pot 1 as they were drawn to play PSG and Inter Milan. Aston Villa will face Bayern for the first time since beating the Bundesliga giants in the 1982 European Cup final.

As well as hosting Real Madrid, Liverpool will also be reunited with former midfielder Xabi Alonso when he brings his Bayer Leverkusen team to Anfield. Alonso was heavily linked with the Liverpool manager’s job following the shock sacking of Jurgen Klopp in January.

In the new system, each team will play eight matches before the knockout stage, two more than in previous years. The final round will take place on January 29.

Each team played against eight different opponents, four home games and four away games, two from each of the four seeded teams.

Teams from the same competition may not play against each other and a club may only field a maximum of two teams from one country.

The top eight teams advance directly to the round of 16. Teams finishing between ninth and twenty-fourth advance to the knockout stage of the play-offs, while the bottom twelve teams are eliminated.

The dates, times and order of each team’s matches will be announced on Saturday.

Champions League draw

Manchester City: Inter Milan (H), PSG (A), Club Brugge (H), Juventus (A), Feyenoord (H), Sporting Lisbon (A), Sparta Prague (H), Slovan Bratislava (A).

Arsenal: PSG (Home), Internazionale (Away), Shakhtar Donetsk (Home), Atalanta (Away), Dinamo Zagreb (Home), Sporting Lisbon (Away), Monaco (Home), Girona (Away)

Liverpool: Real Madrid (home), Leipzig (away), Bayer Leverkusen (home), AC Milan (away), Lille (home), PSV (away), Bologna (home), Girona (away).

Aston Villa: Bayern Munich (home), RB Leipzig (away), Juventus (home), Club Brugge (away), Celtic (home), Young Boys (away), Bologna (home), Monaco (away)

Real Madrid: Dortmund (Home), Liverpool (Away), Milan (Home), Atalanta (Away), Salzburg (Home), Lille (Away), Stuttgart (Home), Brest (Away)

Barcelona: Bayern (home) and Dortmund (away) Atalanta (home), Benfica (away), Young Boys (home), Red Star (away), Brest (home), Monaco (away)

Atlético Madrid: Leipzig (H), PSG (A), Leverkusen (H), Benfica (A), Lille (H), Salzburg (A), Slovan Bratislava (H), Sparta Prague (A)

Bayern Munich: PSG (H), Barcelona (A), Benfica (H), Shakhtar Donetsk (A), Dinamo Zagreb (H), Feyenoord (A), Slovan Bratislava (H), Aston Villa (A)

Bayer Leverkusen: Inter Milan (Home), Liverpool (Away), Atlético (Away), AC Milan (Home), Salzburg (Home), Feyenoord (Away), Sparta Prague (Home), Brest (Away)

Borussia Dortmund: Barcelona (home), Real Madrid (away), Shakhtar (home), Brugge (away), Celtic (home), Dinamo Zagreb (away), Sturm Graz (home), Bologna (away)

Inter Milan: RB Leipzig (Home), Arsenal (Home), Leverkusen (Away), Red Star (Home), Young Boys (Away), Monaco (Home), Sparta Prague (Away)

AC Milan: Liverpool (H), Real Madrid (A), Club Brugge (H), Leverkusen (A), Red Star (H), Dinamo Zagreb (A), Girona (H), Slovan Bratislava (A)

Juventus: Man City (Home), Leipzig (Away), Benfica (Home), Club Brugge (Away), PSV (Home), Lille (Away), Stuttgart (Home) Aston Villa (Away)

Paris Saint-Germain: Man City (Home), Bayern (Away), Atlético (Home), Arsenal (Away), PSV (Home), Salzburg (Away), Girona (Home), Stuttgart (Away)

Celtic: RB Leipzig (H), Dortmund (A), Club Brugge (H), Atalanta (A), Young Boys (H), Dinamo Zagreb (A), Slovan Bratislava (H), Aston Villa (A)