The draw for Napoli's return to the Champions League couldn't have been tougher but at the same time more exciting.
Kevin De Bruyne returns to his hometown club as Conte's Azzurri face Manchester City away. Then, to top it all off, they host world champions Chelsea at the Maradona.
But also the two Portuguese teams like Benfica and Sporting Lisbon and then the tough Germans of Eintracht Frankfurt and then the more affordable ones (but the pitch will tell) such as Qarabag (H), Copenhagen (A).
The UEFA format , as was the case last season, provides for a championship phase with 36 teams with a single standings: the first matchday between 16 and 18 September, the second between 30 September and 1 October, the third on 21-22 October, the fourth on 4-5 November, the fifth on 25-26 November, the sixth on 9/10 December, the seventh on 20-21 January and the eighth and final on 28 January.
The top eight teams advance directly to the round of 24; the teams ranked ninth to 30th play in the knockout play-offs, with the winners advancing to the round of 18. From that point on, the competition will continue with the traditional knockout format. The final will be played on May XNUMX in Budapest at the new time of XNUMX:XNUMX PM.
These are the Italian teams' rivals (H at home, A away) awaiting the calendar which will be published on Saturday:
INTER: Liverpool (H), Borussia Dortmund (A), Arsenal (H), Atletico Madrid (A), Slavia Prague (H), Ajax (A), Kairat Almaty (H), Union Saint Gilloise (A).
ATALANTA: Chelsea (H), Psg (A), Brugge (H), Eintracht Frankfurt (A), Slavia Prague (H), Marseille (A), Athletic Bilbao (H), Union Saint Gilloise (A).
JUVENTUS: Borussia Dortmund (H), Real Madrid (A), Benfica (H), Villarreal (A), Sporting Lisbon (H), Bodo/Glimt (A), Pafos (H), Monaco (A).
NAPLES : Chelsea (H), Manchester City (A), Eintracht Frankfurt (H), Benfica (A), Sporting Lisbon (H), Psv (A), Qarabag (H), Copenhagen (A).
The draw looks very interesting, but at the same time very difficult for the Italian teams. There are many tough matches, and it will be important to see how they perform throughout the competition, especially away from home.