Arsenal have emerged as the big winners from this year’s Champions League draw with Opta’s supercomputer ranking their schedule as one of the kindest of all 36 clubs in the league phase.
Rivals Tottenham, managed by Thomas Frank who is preparing for his first Champions League campaign in an 18-year coaching career, have also been handed a route that looks considerably less daunting than most.
The Champions League is in only its second season under the new 36-team league format, with every club playing eight different opponents, four at home and four away.
The top eight go straight through to the last 16, while those finishing ninth to 24th drop into play-offs.
Because no two fixture lists are the same, difficulty varies wildly. Opta’s supercomputer has crunched their global rankings to reveal which sides have the kindest draws and which face an uphill task.
And for Mikel Arteta’s men the outlook is promising. Their schedule includes Olympiacos, Slavia Prague and Kairat Almaty, the Kazakh champions ranked a lowly 474th in the world.
Arsenal have emerged as the big winners from this year’s Champions League draw with Opta’s supercomputer
Rivals Tottenham have also been handed a route that looks considerably less daunting than most
Premier League champions Liverpool will play both Madrid clubs as well as Inter Milan in the league phase
Liverpool
Arsenal
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That fixture alone has dragged down the average rating of the Gunners’ opponents and given them the third easiest run of games in the competition.
There are glamour ties too, most notably Bayern Munich and Inter Milan, but overall the balance looks about as favourable as Arteta could have hoped for.
Tottenham, meanwhile, may feel just as fortunate.
Frank’s side take on Dortmund, Villarreal, Eintracht Frankfurt and Bodø/Glimt, four of the lighter draws available before the ceremony in Monaco.
Add in meetings with Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco and it is still far from straightforward, but compared to what might have been, Spurs are among the winners in the model and rank fourth easiest overall.
Chelsea, back in the competition under Enzo Maresca, have also been handed a generous set of fixtures.
Ajax, Qarabag and debutants Pafos of Cyprus all feature, offering chances to pick up points before tougher tests against Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Napoli.
Liverpool’s schedule mixes glamour with opportunity. Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid will visit Anfield, but there are also meetings with Frankfurt, Marseille and Qarabag that Slot will view as more winnable.
Opta’s supercomputer has crunched their global rankings to reveal which sides have the kindest draws and which face an uphill task
Manchester City, by contrast, sit in the middle. Pep Guardiola’s team face Real Madrid for the fifth consecutive campaign along with Leverkusen, Villarreal, Dortmund, Napoli and Galatasaray.
It is a demanding set but not among the very hardest, and City will be confident of improving on last season’s play-off round exit.
For Newcastle United, however, the picture is pretty grim.
Eddie Howe’s men have landed one of the five most difficult fixture lists in the entire competition, with Barcelona, PSG, Leverkusen, Benfica, Union Saint-Gilloise and Athletic Bilbao all on the agenda.
That represents five of the eight opponents regarded beforehand as worst-case scenarios for English sides, and will test the depth of a squad still learning European football.
Bayern and PSG will also be aggrieved after emerging as the two teams with the hardest schedules.
Harry Kane and Co must face Arsenal, Sporting Lisbon and a resurgent Union Saint-Gilloise, while PSG have been handed Barcelona, Leverkusen, Tottenham and Newcastle.
At the other end, debutants Pafos and Copenhagen have the joint easiest schedules according to the data, though both are still expected to struggle against the competition’s elite.
Bayern and PSG will be aggrieved after emerging as the two teams with the hardest schedules
Pep Guardiola’s team face Real Madrid for the fifth consecutive campaign along with Leverkusen, Villarreal, Dortmund, Napoli and Galatasaray
Newcastle have landed one of the five most difficult fixture lists in the entire competition
Interestingly, despite being handed the toughest draw last term, Luis Enrique’s men still managed to go on and secure the first European Cup in the club’s history.
For Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea and Liverpool, there is every reason to be optimistic.
For Newcastle, the road to the knockouts looks steep before a ball has even been kicked, though they will take heart from their spirited St James’ Park display the last time they were in the competition in 2023.
