The Champions League draw has been completed and eagle-eyed fans spotted the immediate reaction of PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi.
The revamped format for the competition sees 36 teams - increased from 32 - compete in a league phase with the top eight progressing directly to the round of 16.
Teams placed from ninth to 25 will face off against each other in a play-off to determine the other eight sides that will make up the 16. Any teams that are eliminated will not drop down into the Europa League like previous seasons.
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With the help of an AI supercomputer, UEFA conducted the draw on Thursday evening in Monaco with delegates from the various clubs in attendance to see who they were drawn against.
Eagle-eyed supporters noticed the reaction of Al-Khelaifi in particular when the cameras cut to the PSG chief.
The French champions were handed home ties against Manchester City, Atletico Madrid, PSV Eindhoven and Girona as well as away ties against Bayern Munich, Arsenal, RB Salzburg and Stuttgart; making up one of the most difficult sets of fixtures.
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Al-Khelaifi couldn’t hide his emotions and was seen to be visibly taken aback after the tough fixture list was revealed.
The fixture against Bayern will see a repeat of the 2019/20 final with both sides having an almost identical win record in the head-to-head statistics.
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Reacting to the draw, Bayern Munich midfielder Joshua Kimmich picked out the game against PSG as one of his most anticipated fixtures.
He told UEFA: “There are some teams here that we haven't played against very often. Above all, I'm looking forward to seeing Hansi Flick and Barcelona again and also to the game with Paris. For me, these are formally the two strongest opponents, although you shouldn't underestimate any of the other clubs. They can all be very close games.”
The date of the fixtures will be confirmed on Saturday, August 31 with the final league stage fixture taking place at the end of January.
Topics: Champions League, PSG, UEFA, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Arsenal
Marcus Banks