All is set for the kick off of the group phase of this season’s UEFA Champions League today.
JESNews sports correspondent reports that 36 clubs, comprising champions Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Manchester City and Juventus, will be competing in the league phase to qualify for the Champions League knockout stage.
The teams finishing in the top eight teams in the league phase will automatically qualify for the Round of 16 stage.
The teams finishing in 25th position and below are eliminated and do not drop into the UEFA Europa League.
The clubs finishing in 9th position to 24th position will compete in a two-legged knockout-phase play-off.
The eight teams who win their knockout-phase play-off each will confront one of the seeded top-eight finishers in the league-phase table in the last-16 round for a place in the quarter-finals.
Paris Saint-Germain are the reigning champions of the Champions League after they won it last season, thrashing Inter Milan 5-0 in the final at the Allianz Arena in Munich.
This season’s league phase will start this week, and there are matches on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.
PSG face Atalanta at Parc des Princes, Bayern Munich host Chelsea, Athletic Bilbao tackle Arsenal, Real Madrid will confront Marseille, Manchester City will battle Napoli, and Liverpool take on Atletico Madrid at Anfield
