Michael Carrick’s side are back in Europe’s top competition and face the likes of Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid
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Manchester United are back in the Champions League after two seasons away with Michael Carrick eager to extend their good form since confirming his elevation from caretaker boss to permanent manager.
After an early setback at Hull City, United will be tasked with juggling commitments at home and in Europe and Carrick faces an early headache with Premier League games at home to Ipswich and Everton away before beginning their European campaign.
In their last Champions League appearance, in the 2023/24 campaign, before the league phase was introduced, United exited in the group stage, finishing bottom after two defeats to Bayern Munich and a loss against each of Galatasaray and Copenhagen.
It means United have spent more than two and a half years outside of Europe’s top competition, and their coefficient saw them enter the draw in pot two, alongside Borussia Dortmund, Porto, Brugge, Real Betis, PSV, Aston Villa, Roma and Sporting Lisbon.
See below for all of Man United’s opponents in the league phase of the Champions League.
Man United’s Champions League draw
Bayern Munich (H)
Atletico Madrid (A)
Roma (H)
Sporting Lisbon (A)
Leipzig (H)
Villarreal (A)
Sabah (H)
Como (A)
The dates and times for the fixtures are expected to be released in the next 48 hours. Uefa confirms at the latest on Saturday.
How does the league phase work?
The league phase has 36 teams with every team handed eight games. The 36 teams are split into four pots of eight teams based on their Uefa coefficient, with the opponents generated by automated software.
The opponents then come from each pot, with two teams selected from each, one home and one away.
Teams cannot play another team from the same country and are not permitted to face more than two teams from one country.
Those finishing inside the top eight go straight into the last 16, then the next 16 teams advance to the play-off stage, with eight of those 16 teams progressing to the last 16.