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Champions League simulated draw pits Arsenal against bogey side Bayern

The revamped Champions League is almost upon us, with the draw for this season's group stage set to take place this afternoon.

Gone are the days of picking balls out of a pot. Instead, today's draw will be done by AI, with the 36 - rather than 32 - teams in the mix this time around.

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

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

And Mail Sport has given the simulator a try... with interesting results.

Arsenal fans may want to look away now as our simulator has put them up against Bayern Munich.

The German club have become somewhat of a bogey side for the Gunners over the years, having famously beaten them 10-2 on aggregate in the last 16 of the Champions League in 2017.

They also knocked Mikel Arteta's side out of Europe last season at the quarter-final stage.

That game would be on matchday six for Arsenal, and would be followed by a clash with AC Milan, if the simulator proves to be correct.

Manchester City's task is not any easier as they have another clash with defending champions Real Madrid to look forward to, according to the simulator.

They were knocked out by Carlo Ancelotti's men on penalties last season, and the two clubs have had some brilliant battles in recent seasons.

Our simulator has that scheduled for matchday seven, while City also face a trip to Juventus on the opening night and a home tie with PSG for their third game.

Liverpool's draw looks a little more favourable, but still pits them against two European giants.

The simulated draw is kinder to Arne Slot's Liverpool, but still has them facing Bayern and Dortmund

And those teams are both from the same country - Germany. That's right, if our simulator is to be believed, the Reds would host Bayern on matchday two before travelling to Borussia Dortmund for their very next fixture.

Dortmund made it to last season's final prior to falling short against 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 may have a chance of making the knockout stages.

An opening evening clash with Dortmund awaits, but they have managed to avoid big-hitters such as Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern and Inter Milan. 

Source: dailymail.co.uk

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