Holders Real Madrid will face Liverpool away and host Borussia Dortmund in a repeat of last season’s final in the league stage of the new-look Champions League, the draw for which took place on Thursday. Every team will play eight games against eight different opponents in the new format of Europe’s elite club competition, with all 36 clubs now pooled together into one league rather than split into groups. Madrid, who have signed France superstar Kylian Mbappe since winning a record-extending 15th European Cup, will also notably play AC Milan at home and will go to Atalanta.

Real beat last season’s Europa League winners Atalanta in the UEFA Super Cup in Warsaw earlier this month.

Liverpool, who are back in the Champions League after a one-season absence, will also notably meet Milan and take on tournament debutants Girona.

However, supporters of the Anfield club will perhaps be most excited about the prospect of hosting German champions Bayer Leverkusen, coached by former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso.

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, winners of the competition in 2023, will play at home to Italian champions Inter Milan and go to both Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus.

However, they were also handed more comfortable opponents including Club Brugge, Sparta Prague and Slovan Bratislava, who have never played in the modern Champions League proper.

Other standout head-to-heads will include Bayern Munich against both PSG and Barcelona, and Arsenal against Inter and Paris.

The number of clubs in the Champions League has increased from 32 in the past, with the 36 participants split into four seeded pots of nine for the draw.

Every team faces two teams from each of the four pots, one at home and one away. The first matches will be played on September 17, 18 and 19.

The two extra matchdays in the new league phase will take place in January, at the end of which the top eight clubs in the 36-team classification will advance directly to the last 16.

Those ranked between ninth and 24th place will go through to play a play-off round from which will emerge the remaining eight sides advancing to the last 16.

The bottom 12 in the league phase will be eliminated altogether, with no clubs parachuting down into the Europa League as in the past.

The Europa League and third-tier Conference League, the draws for which take place on Friday, will also now feature 36 clubs, although the latter competition will involve only six matchdays in the league phase.

File image of UEFA Champions League trophy.© AFP

A new era in European club football begins on Thursday when the draw takes place in Monaco for an expanded UEFA Champions League featuring a radically changed format. European football’s governing body is selling what it describes as “a thrilling new future” for the game on the continent with more teams playing more matches, and more prize money on offer. UEFA needs to generate hype around the new format, because there is a risk — in the beginning at least — that fans will find it confusing compared to the old model.

For the last 21 years, the Champions League had consisted of a group stage in which 32 clubs were split into eight groups of four, each playing six games. The top two in each group qualified for the knockout phase.

The new version will feature 36 clubs with everyone playing eight matches, but all teams pooled together into one giant league rather than in groups.

Clubs will still be split into four seeded pots of nine teams, with every participant given two opponents from each pot.

The top eight in the final ranking go through to the last 16, while the next 16 sides advance to an intermediate play-off round and the remainder go out.

The new format was introduced against the backdrop of the threat by Europe’s biggest clubs to break away and form their own Super League.

But UEFA are also hoping the format can be a solution to the problem of competitive imbalance in the sport which was making the group stage more predictable.

“The new format will introduce a better competitive balance between all the teams, with the possibility for each team to play opponents of a similar competitive level throughout the league phase,” UEFA say.

Financial rewards

What the changes will certainly not address are concerns about too much football being played and damaging the quality as a result.

The increasing demands on players, and the lack of rest as a result, were cited as reasons why many matches at Euro 2024 proved disappointing.

The new Champions League, in a season which is also set to finish with the first expanded version of FIFA’s Club World Cup, will feature a total of 144 games in the group stage, up from 96 before.

The financial rewards are greater, however, with UEFA’s total prize pot for the Champions League rising by about 25 percent to almost 2.5 billion euros ($2.79 billion).

The winners of the competition can pocket over 86 million euros just in prize money, not including bonuses of 700,000 euros for every point gained in the league phase or income from television.

Real Madrid were the winners last season, raising the trophy for the sixth time in the last 11 years.

The addition of Kylian Mbappe to their squad means they will hope to go all the way again, and emerge victorious in the final in Munich on May 31, next year.

Newcomers

This season’s Champions League will include newcomers such as Girona from Spain, while Bologna of Italy take part in Europe’s elite club competition for the first time in 60 years.

Brest of France had never qualified for any European competition before, but now take part after finishing third in Ligue 1 last season — taking advantage of the extra place handed to France as the fifth-ranked league in Europe.

As for the other additional places, one goes to a national champion who will emerge from the qualifying rounds, while Italy and Germany get an extra team each because of the performances of their clubs in Europe last season.

UEFA said the draw itself will be a “hybrid” affair, between the manual drawing of balls and the use of software, having calculated that doing it all by hand would take more than three hours.

The Europa League and Conference League, the draws for which will both take place on Friday, will also now feature 36 teams, although there will be only six matches for clubs in the league phase of the latter competition.

Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique said his side had achieved “perfection” after thrashing Montpellier 6-0 on Friday to continue their strong start to life without Kylian Mbappe. Bradley Barcola scored twice while Marco Asensio, Achraf Hakimi, Warren Zaire-Emery and Lee Kang-in were also on target at the Parc des Princes for PSG. The reigning Ligue 1 champions have now found the net 10 times in total while winning their opening two games of the season, suggesting the future is bright without departed star Mbappe.

“It was a perfect night,” Luis Enrique said.

“We had 16 stars tonight, all the players who took part. Sixteen stars in attack and in defence, that is perfection, and that is what we are looking for.”

PSG’s young team, featuring two teenagers in the starting line-up and a total of eight players aged between 18 and 25, played with verve and style, albeit against limited opposition.

There was a first start for 19-year-old Portugal midfielder Joao Neves, a close-season recruit from Benfica for a fee that could eventually reach 69.9 million euros ($78.2m).

Meanwhile Desire Doue, also 19 and a member of the France team that recently won Olympic silver, came on as a second-half substitute for his debut after joining from Rennes for an initial 50 million euros.

“I think in two games you can already see the profile of the players we have brought in,” added PSG’s Spanish coach.

“They are totally suited to our way of playing and I think they will all bring us a lot.”

He continued: “I am enjoying every training session with a very complete and versatile squad and players who are really eager to make history.”

PSG scored three late goals to win 4-1 at Le Havre last week as they began their defence of the title, but their performance here was far more accomplished and suggests they will take some beating as they chase an 11th French title in 13 seasons.

That is despite losing their all-time top scorer in Mbappe, but their overwhelming superiority compared to the opposition in Ligue 1 cannot be forgotten.

While PSG — backed by their Qatari owners — have spent 175 million euros in the summer transfer window, not including bonuses, on four new players, Montpellier have not signed anyone.

Financial gulf

Handicapped by the collapse in income following the agreement of a new, knockdown domestic broadcast deal, Montpellier will get just seven million euros from television this season, their president Laurent Nicollin told sports daily L’Equipe on Friday.

“They were much stronger than us and dominated from beginning to end,” said Montpellier coach Michel Der Zakarian.

The financial gulf makes it practically impossible for Montpellier to compete and they fell behind inside four minutes when Barcola, coming in from the left, scored with a first-time toe-poke finish.

The second goal just past the midway point in the first half was a joy, as Barcola played a ball in from the left for Neves and his cushioned lay-off set up Asensio to fire in.

The third goal arrived eight minutes into the second half and was of similar quality, Asensio releasing Ousmane Dembele on the right before he raced away and squared for Barcola to tap in.

It was 5-0 by the hour mark, with Nuno Mendes crossing from the left to the far post where Hakimi scored with a sidefoot volley, and Zaire-Emery nutmegging Kiki Kouyate in the box before finishing.

Lee, on from the bench after being dropped from the starting line-up, smacked in the sixth from the edge of the area on 82 minutes.

It is the second time PSG have scored six goals in a Ligue 1 game since Luis Enrique became coach just over a year ago — the other was in a 6-2 win at Montpellier in March.

Saturday’s action in France sees Lyon host last season’s runners-up Monaco before Lille meet Angers and Saint-Etienne play Le Havre.

Roberto De Zerbi’s Marseille, 5-1 winners at Brest on the opening weekend, are at home to Reims on Sunday.

Kylian Mbappe in action© AFP

Paris Saint-Germain began their defence of the Ligue 1 title with a 4-1 win at Le Havre on Friday in their first competitive game since the departure of talisman Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid.

Lee Kang-in gave PSG the lead inside three minutes in Normandy only for Gautier Lloris to equalise, but late goals by Ousmane Dembele, Bradley Barcola and a Randal Kolo Muani penalty sealed the victory for the reigning French champions.

It was a comfortable win in the end for Luis Enrique’s team, with their substitutes ultimately making the difference as PSG’s strength in depth proved too much for a team who only just avoided relegation last season.

“It is the first game back and it’s a very good start,” said PSG’s Spanish coach.

The French international trio of Kolo Muani, Dembele and Barcola all began the game on the bench, while Portugal midfielder Joao Neves came on at half-time for his debut after joining from Benfica for a fee that could reach 69.9 million euros ($76.7m) including bonuses.

Yet Le Havre will wonder what might have been had a Josue Casimir goal — which would have put them in front early in the second half — not been disallowed by VAR for a handball.

“We had highs and lows, but the substitutes did a lot of good for us,” added Luis Enrique.

“The final score disguises the fact that there are things to improve upon. We gave away lots of easy balls and had we gone 2-1 down that might have changed everything.”

PSG have not made any marquee signings to fill the enormous void left by Mbappe, who departed for Madrid in June after scoring 44 goals last season and registering a club-record 256 across his seven years at the club.

It is yet to be found out if Luis Enrique’s team can repeat their performances of the last campaign, when they swept all the domestic honours and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League.

The Spanish coach was without several regulars here, with left-back Nuno Mendes suspended while Fabian Ruiz is not yet ready to return after helping Spain win Euro 2024.

Late goals

There was a debut on the left wing for Ibrahim Mbaye, who is only 16 and was one of three teenagers in PSG’s starting line-up alongside Yoram Zague and Warren Zaire-Emery, both 18.

South Korea star Lee opened the scoring when he collected a Goncalo Ramos pass on the right wing before sending a shot into the far corner with the aid of a deflection.

However, the visitors were then dealt a blow as Ramos was forced off with an ankle injury, and his replacement Kolo Muani then sent a header crashing back off the bar.

Le Havre, in their first game under new coach Didier Digard, improved as the game went on and Abdoulaye Toure had a goal disallowed for offside just before the half-hour mark.

They were level three minutes into the second half when Lloris, the brother of former France captain Hugo, turned in Christopher Operi’s free-kick.

The hosts then thought they had taken the lead on 53 minutes when skipper Casimir ran through to score, but VAR ruled his effort out after a long check for a handball.

Lee struck the frame of the goal before Dembele, who had been sent on for the final 20 minutes, gave PSG the advantage again on 85 minutes with a header from a Neves cross.

Barcola curled in a superb third a minute later, and Kolo Muani then won and converted the late penalty which wrapped up the win for the visitors at the Stade Oceane.

Last season’s runners-up Monaco face Saint-Etienne on Saturday, while Roberto De Zerbi’s first game in charge of Marseille will be away to Brest, who surprisingly finished third in the last campaign.

Paris Saint-Germain are beginning a new era following the departure of Kylian Mbappe and the reigning French champions have so far kept a low profile as they prepare for life without the superstar forward. Mbappe moved to Real Madrid when his contract expired in June, ending a prolific seven-year association with the Qatar-owned club in which he struck a remarkable 256 goals to become their all-time top scorer. The France captain therefore leaves an enormous void, so big that PSG appear to have decided there is no one player who could possibly fill it adequately.

Coach Luis Enrique takes his team to Normandy to face Le Havre on Friday on the opening night of the new Ligue 1 campaign without any glitzy new signing having arrived to directly replace Mbappe.

PSG have nevertheless spent money in Europe’s summer transfer window, and they may still move for a top-class striker before the deadline at the end of the month.

Napoli’s Victor Osimhen, who previously starred in Ligue 1 for Lille, has been linked with a move to the French capital, although it is unclear whether he would fit in with Luis Enrique’s preferred style of football.

For now, though, PSG’s efforts in the transfer market have been focused elsewhere, with an estimated 125 million euros ($132.2m) invested on three players.

Nineteen-year-old Portuguese midfield prodigy Joao Neves, who appeared for his country at Euro 2024, has arrived from Benfica for 59.9 million euros, a fee which could rise by 10 million euros when bonuses are factored in.

The defence has been strengthened with the recruitment of Ecuador centre-back Willian Pacho, 22, from Eintracht Frankfurt for up to 45 million euros.

PSG’s first summer signing was the Russian goalkeeper Matvey Safonov, 25, from Krasnodar in his homeland for a reported 20 million euros. He will provide competition for first-choice custodian Gianluigi Donnarumma.

Irreplaceable

Meanwhile, Mbappe apart, the Parisians have kept hold of the spine of their team from last season and have also incorporated teenage Brazilian midfielder Gabriel Moscardo after signing him from Corinthians in January but allowing him to stay there on loan for six more months.

French international wingers Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola will be expected to build on impressive performances last season, while the hope is that Randal Kolo Muani and Goncalo Ramos — scorers of 23 goals between them in the last campaign — will step up to help fans forget Mbappe.

The days of signing veteran stars like Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos are a thing of the past, and captain Marquinhos, 30, is likely to be the oldest member of the starting line-up this season.

The only really glamorous name to pose with a PSG shirt alongside president Nasser al-Khelaifi this summer has been NBA star Kevin Durant, who has invested in the club.

“He is obviously a different player and we can’t replace him with one single player. Forget it. There is no substitute for Kylian Mbappe,” Luis Enrique admitted in May, just after his team finished the season by defeating Lyon in the French Cup final to complete a domestic double.

“We will need to replace him with the team as a whole, and with maybe four, five or six new signings.”

PSG’s transfer business is surely not over yet, but for now they will ease themselves back into the season.

It is not just in the market that PSG have kept a low profile, for they have also had a quiet pre-season.

There has been no energy-sapping summer tour to the United States or Asia, with Luis Enrique instead keeping his squad at their training base outside Paris.

They have played just two friendly matches, drawing away to Austrian champions Sturm Graz and RB Leipzig in Germany.

Luis Enrique perhaps saw little point in playing too many games given so many of his players returned to training late after being involved at Euro 2024, the Copa America or the Olympics.

The aim will be to get his side in peak condition by the time the Champions League begins in September, by which time a new attacking option may have been added.

Kylian Mbappe’s highly anticipated move to Real Madrid will be made official next week.© AFP

Paris Saint-Germain have not paid Kylian Mbappe his wages for April as well as a mega-bucks bonus amid a financial dispute between the club and the player as he prepares to leave the French champions, sources close to the talks told AFP on Wednesday. PSG’s decision to withhold Mbappe’s salary is related to an agreement between the two parties made last year, at the start of the season, when the player accepted to waive part of a bonus due to him, the source said.

However, the source stated the talks between the club and the France captain were “relaxed” and that there was hope of reaching “a positive conclusion”.

“Everything is being sorted out,” the source said without confirming the amount of money due to Mbappe.

However, another source contacted by AFP said PSG had also decided not to pay Mbappe a bonus owed, meaning the amount of money in question totalled some 80 million euros ($86.8m), confirming figures reported by sports daily L’Equipe.

The same source said the club had decided not to make the payments without warning Mbappe and without an agreement being reached between the parties.

Neither Mbappe’s entourage nor PSG immediately responded when contacted by AFP for comment.

Mbappe’s contract expires on June 30 and he has already confirmed he will leave PSG after seven years, with Real Madrid expected to be his next destination.

The two camps admitted at the beginning of this year Mbappe had agreed to waive part of a huge bonus that was due to him in order to be reinstated to the PSG squad after he was frozen out of the team at the beginning of the season.

The total amount of these bonuses is between 60 and 70 million euros, according to a source close to the club.

Waiving that sum was seen as a way of Mbappe helping PSG recoup some money given that they will not receive a transfer fee for the 25-year-old when he departs.

However, another source said Mbappe did in fact receive that bonus in February.

Mbappe signed his last contract with PSG in 2022, a two-year deal worth some 72 million euros before tax.

On top of that there was a stratospheric signing-on fee of 150 million euros, to be paid in three instalments, and a loyalty bonus of 70 million euros for the first year and 80 million euros for the second year.

In addition, he would have received a further 90 million euros had he agreed to take up the option of staying for a third year, according to the daily Le Parisien.

Team PSG and Lyon in action© AFP