Simulated Champions League tie pits Arsenal against booed Bayern Munich and Man City face reigning champions Real Madrid again… while Liverpool take on two European giants

The renewed Champions League is upon us. This afternoon the draw for this season’s group stage will take place.

The days of drawing balls from a pot are over. Instead, today’s draw will be done by AI, with 36 – rather than 32 – teams in the mix this time around.

The league phase consists of eight matches for each team (four home and four away), between September and January.

But what if you can’t wait for this afternoon’s draw? Well, you can try it yourself with a simulator to find out who your team could be up against in the coming months.

And Mail Sport has tried out the simulator… with interesting results.

A simulated Champions League draw has produced some interesting matches

The simulated draw has pitted Arsenal against their bogeyman Bayern Munich

If the simulated draw is correct, Man City will also face Real Madrid again

Arsenal fans might want to look away now as our simulator shows them taking on Bayern Munich.

The German club have become a bit of a nightmare for the Gunners over the years, having beaten them 10-2 over two legs in the 2017 Champions League last 16.

Last season they also knocked out Mikel Arteta’s team in the quarter-finals in Europe.

That match would be played on Matchday 6 for Arsenal, followed by a clash with AC Milan, if the simulator is correct.

According to the simulator, Manchester City’s task is no easier as they face another clash with reigning champions Real Madrid.

Last season they were eliminated by Carlo Ancelotti’s men on penalties. The last few seasons the two clubs have played some fantastic matches.

According to our simulator, that is scheduled for Matchday 7, while City also travel to Juventus on the opening night and play PSG at home in their third match.

The draw for Liverpool looks slightly more favourable, but they still face two European powerhouses.

The simulated draw is more favourable to Arne Slot’s Liverpool, but still leaves them facing Bayern and Dortmund

Unai Emery’s Aston Villa have a favourable simulated draw as they return to Europe’s elite competition

And those teams both come from the same country – Germany. That’s right, if our simulator is to be believed, the Reds would host Bayern on matchday two before traveling to Borussia Dortmund for their next match.

Dortmund reached the final last season, but lost to Madrid at Wembley.

And what about new boys Aston Villa? Unai Emery did a fantastic job getting the Midlands club back into Europe’s elite competition last season, and if our simulator is correct, they might just have a shot at reaching the knockout stages.

An opening night clash with Dortmund awaits, but they will avoid major powers such as Madrid, Barcelona, ​​​​Bayern and Internazionale.