If the Champions League Anthem isn't your alarm tone for Tuesday morning, can you even consider yourself a true football fan?

Europe's premier club competition is officially back on September 17, boasting a brand-new look.

Gone are the eight groups in the opening stages and in their place is a new "League Phase," in which all clubs are grouped together in one table. The competition is also welcoming four additional teams, bumping the number of participating European heavyweights up to 36.

Each team will play eight games during this stage against eight different teams, with the top eight in the league standings qualifying for the knockouts and teams ranked ninth through to 24th entering a playoff to earn their place in the round of 16. A full breakdown of the new format can be found here.

While the system has changed, the Champions League will still bring some of Europe's most accomplished teams together in a battle for supremacy. But this time, the level of competition is higher, and the mouthwatering ties are more plentiful.

We've scoured the fixture list and ranked 10 of the most eye-catching meetings that you'll want to circle in your calendar.

Big Games That Didn't Make the Top 10

Aston Villa vs. Bayern Munich - October 2

Aston Villa have returned to European football's top table for the first time since the 1982-83 competition, which was then still known as simply the European Cup.

They qualified for that year's edition of the tournament after grabbing the title in the 1981-82 edition. Their opponents in the final that year? Bayern Munich.

The two sides have only ever met once, which was during that famous night in Rotterdam over 40 years ago.

What a way for Villa fans to rekindle some memories in just their second Champions League game of the campaign.

Liverpool vs. Bayer Leverkusen - November 5

The Xabi Alonso-derby. It's not so unusual for former players to coach against the team whose shirt they once wore, but Alonso, Liverpool and the Champions League have a special kind of history (more on that later).

Seeing the Spaniard coach against Liverpool at Anfield under the lights will be a conflicting night for those of a Red persuasion, making an already interesting matchup even more so.

Paris Saint-Germain vs. Atletico Madrid - November 6

This is a meeting between two teams with serious European football pedigree but who haven't quite managed to lift that famous trophy.

Both teams have a common enemy on that front, with Bayern Munich beating Paris Saint-Germain in the 2019-20 Champions League final and Atletico Madrid in the 1973-74 edition.

While PSG aren't as fearsome as years gone by, with true star players no longer calling Paris home, they still represent strong opponents, and we all know by now that Atleti will not be shy as they battle and frustrate their French hosts.

Bayer Leverkusen vs. Internazionale - December 10

The champions of the Bundesliga meet the champions of Serie A. This is the kind of game the Champions League was built for.

While Leverkusen perhaps still don't strike fear into the hearts of opponents quite like Bayern Munich on name recognition alone, let's not forget the club went through the whole of last season unbeaten to lift their domestic league title and were on a stretch of 51 games without a loss until Atalanta put a stop to that dominance in the 2023-24 Europa League final.

Internazionale, meanwhile, do have that name recognition but have only just started to remind the continent of what they are all about. A trophy drought of 10 years was broken when they lifted the 2020-21 Scudetto, adding two Supercoppas and two Coppas Italiano since then, as well as last year's Serie A title.

Even if not a tie that jumps immediately off the page, this one will still be a hot ticket.

Juventus vs. Manchester City - December 11

The most successful team in Italian football history will meet one of the most successful club sides of the last 10 years—pending a hearing, of course.

The Barcelona connections of this one are interesting, too, with Juventus boss Thiago Motta and City manager Pep Guardiola surely crossing paths at the Catalan club in the late 90s and early 2000s but never actually playing alongside each other in a competitive game.

Meanwhile, Guardiola's tenure as Barcelona's first team coach began just after Motta was out the door.

Whereas the former has established himself as one of the world's top managerial minds, the latter is just starting on that journey. It will be a fascinating clash of brains at the Allianz Stadium.

10 Through 6

10. Milan vs. Liverpool - September 17

Liverpool fans shouldn't need a reminder about why this is a special tie, whereas supporters of absolutely any other team will be absolutely sick of hearing about it.

But this fixture still brings goosebumps as a repeat of one of the finest Champions League finals ever. While not as high stakes as that 2004-05 meeting in Istanbul, this is still the headline tie among the opening-day fixtures of the 2024-25 competition.

There won't be extra time or penalties this time, and the stars of that game have long since retired, but in terms of European football history, this is a truly significant meeting and a great way to kick off a new era of the competition.

One way or another—either through genuine interest or hate-watching—this will surely bring a lot of eyeballs on Tuesday.

9. Real Madrid vs. Milan - November 5

We've already had the Xabi Alonso-derby, but this is the Carlo Ancelotti-derby.

The Italian coach was on the losing end on that night in Istanbul, but it didn't take him long to make amends, beating those same opponents in the 2006-07 final to claim his second Champions League title as Milan manager.

Just over 15 years later, he's now got five, adding three more with Real Madrid, including the title from last year.

The most successful coach in European Cup history split his titles between these two teams, and seeing them face off against each other in November will certainly be a spectacle.

8. Internazionale vs. Arsenal - November 6

These teams have only played against each other competitively twice in their history, with those meetings coming in the group stages of the 2003-2004 Champions League campaign. But what memorable games they were.

The Gunners were humbled at home in the first group-stage game, with the Nerazurri claiming a 3-0 win. But revenge was soon wrought, with the return fixture at the San Siro ending in a 5-1 thrashing by Arsenal.

A lot of time has passed since then, with both clubs' fortunes shifting wildly in the following years. Seeing them battle in November will help us understand where they now stand in European football's pecking order, and Inter will be desperate to erase the memories of the last time they hosted the North Londoners.

7. Real Madrid vs. Borussia Dortmund - October 22

A repeat of the 2023-24 final will go down in the third gameweek of this year's tournament, perhaps giving us the first real taste of the beauty of this format.

Madrid, inevitably, triumphed 2-0 in that meeting at Wembley Stadium, comfortably grabbing the 15th European Cup trophy in the club's illustrious history.

A one-off meeting with revenge on the line for Dortmund could bring an upset for the competition's most dominant team. While it likely won't impact Los Blancos' chances of qualifying for the knockout stages, a victory for the Schwarzgelben could at least inject a little jeopardy into proceedings.

Former Madrid midfield Nuri Şahin—who clocked up 10 total appearances across four years under the Spanish side's employ—will be in the dugout for Dortmund, the club that he suited up for 274 times. We'll skip the "derby" label for this one.

6. Arsenal vs. Paris Saint-Germain - October 1

Once again, we have a former player coaching against the club he once represented. Mikel Arteta played 53 times for PSG during a loan stint in the 2001-2002 campaign before truly making his name with stays at Everton and Arsenal.

Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain have only ever met in four competitive fixtures, with two of those coming in the 2016-17 Champions League group stages. They shared the spoils on those occasions, 1-1 in Paris and 2-2 in London, and each qualified from Group A.

But the following knockout games for each team in that year's tournament were unbelievably memorable for all the wrong reasons.

Arsenal were humiliated by Bayern Munich in back-to-back 5-1 defeats, while PSG squandered a 4-0 first-leg lead against Barcelona by losing 6-1 at the Camp Nou in the second leg—referred to since as la Remontada.

This time around, it will be a hugely competitive game between two teams with healthy amounts of quality. It's a shame this one won't be competed across two legs.

5. Paris Saint-Germain vs. Manchester City - January 22

This game is perhaps not as big of a deal as it would have been in years gone by, with the relative spending of the Ligue 1 side not being quite as liberal in the last year or so and the departures of headline players making Paris a less enticing destination for major stars.

But this is still a battle between football's petroclubs, putting it among the top matches to watch.

While Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappé are no longer around, PSG still have sensational players like Achraf Hakimi, João Neves, Ousmane Dembélé, and Marco Asensio on the books, while young talents like Warren Zaïre-Emery and Bradley Barcola could reach world-class status in the coming years.

Meanwhile, at Manchester City, Kevin De Bruyne, Erling Haaland, Jérémy Doku, Bernardo Silva, Rodri and Phil Foden make any match appointment viewing.

With this match coming towards the latter stages of the League Phase, the stakes will be much higher than in other games, and each team will want to secure their spot in the knockout stages.

4. Liverpool vs. Real Madrid - November 27

Liverpool will be exhausted by the prospect of facing Real Madrid at this point.

The Reds haven't beaten Los Blancos since 2009, with seven losses and one draw coming since then. Among those defeats were two absolutely crushing ones.

The La Liga side came out on top in both the 2018 and 2022 Champions League finals, helping to secure Real Madrid's credentials as the most dominant team in European club football history.

Real Madrid are the team to beat in Spain, while Liverpool are fighting to remain relevant in a Premier League that simply belongs to Manchester City.

The result of this one should go as expected, with Los Blancos breaking Anfield hearts again. But the recent history between these two teams makes this meeting one to watch.

3. Bayern Munich vs. Paris Saint-Germain - November 26

Perhaps the best thing about the new "League Phase" format is the number of games between former finalists we'll be treated to.

Bayern Munich vs. Paris Saint-Germain will be a repeat of the 2019-20 final, in which the German side triumphed 1-0 in Lisbon.

That was the closest the French side has ever gotten to an elusive Champions League title, with a team boasting a frontline featuring Neymar and Kylian Mbappé. That still wasn't enough to clinch the top prize, though.

They've met four times since then, all in Champions League knockout games. PSG earned a measure of revenge in the 2020-21 quarterfinal, securing an aggregate win on away goals following a 3-2 victory in Munich and a 1-0 loss in Paris. Still, the Parisians were dumped out in the semifinals by Manchester City.

Two years later, they were drawn against each other in the round of 16, with Bayern comfortably winning 3-0 on aggregate.

These teams have been no strangers to each other in recent years, and the November fixture will add another chapter to the story.

Whether PSG have the muscle to compete with Europe's heavyweights these days after shedding their notable big-money signings is up for debate, and it could end up being another disappointing loss for the Ligue 1 side. At least it won't be a knockout game, though.

2. Manchester City vs. Internazionale - September 18

The champions of England face the champions of Italy in a rematch of the 2022-23 Champions League final. What's not to love?

City narrowly edged their opponents on that occasion, relying on a trademark clutch goal from Rodri to seal a 1-0 win and their first-ever European title.

Internazionale, on the other hand, will have to wait a bit longer on their quest for their fourth European Cup.

This meeting could be the story of two strikers, with the indomitable Erling Haaland at one end and the irrepressible Lautaro Martinez at the other. Each has contrasting styles but is no less deadly.

Inter's defense of their Serie A title has started slowly, with two wins and two draws in four games. City, on the other hand, have come flying out of the traps, with four wins in four and 11 goals. Haaland, of course, has all but two of them.

On paper, at least, this one looks like a City win all over. But European nights are a different gravy, and Inter will surely have a taste for victory.

1. Barcelona vs. Bayern Munich - October 23

Hansi Flick will lead his Barcelona side out at home against the club he once coached to a treble.

Bayern Munich won the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and Champions League under his tutelage in 2019-20, while the German also guided the side to the 2020-21 Bundesliga title, 2020 DFL-Supercup, 2020 UEFA Super Cup and 2020 FIFA Club World Cup.

His exit to coach the Germany national team wasn't a successful one, but he's now found a new home in Catalonia, and things are going pretty well so far.

The Blaugrana have started the domestic campaign with five league wins out of five, scoring 17 goals in the process. But Bayern, now coached by Vincent Kompany, have a perfect record through three games, too.

Two new managers with very different profiles have experienced early success, and they'll both want to make a statement when they meet in October.

With both hoping to wrest back control of their respective domestic leagues, the European game will be a welcome distraction but one neither will take lightly. This meeting could be full of goals and scintillating football from two progressive, attacking teams.