Barcelona host Bayern Munich, Inter Milan welcome Real Madrid and AC Milan take on Liverpool in a series of mouth-watering clashes to mark matchday 1 of the Champions League this midweek.
While not all of those renowned names will consider themselves genuine title challengers in this edition, the glamour of the ties will boost European governing body UEFA just months after it saw off the threat of a breakaway league - to which both Spanish giants and Italians Juventus remain attached.
Paris Saint-Germain, after an astonishing transfer window, and Manchester duo City and United, with Cristiano Ronaldo now back, will fancy their chances however while Chelsea begin the defence of the crown won for the second time in May.
But equally important for UEFA could be the tournament debut of Moldovans Sheriff Tiraspol, underdogs who have shown that even supposed minnows can still make it to the top table alongside Europe's strongest and wealthiest.
Barcelona, amid a financial crisis which saw them lose Lionel Messi to PSG, currently do not count among that bracket but will certainly expect to fare better against Bayern than their last 8-2 loss in the 2020 quarter-final.
Julian Nagelsmann now coaches Munich and is demanding a positive campaign which starts Tuesday in Group E.
"It's only just over a year since [Bayern] won it; the players got a taste for it and want to do it again," he told UEFA.com.
"The Champions League is always about having one or two good days; if you have a bad day, it's all over very quickly."
PSG begin Wednesday at Club Brugge in Group A with Messi joining Sergio Ramos, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Georginio Wijnaldum in arriving this summer in a bid to land a first Champions title.
"We're very happy but from tomorrow we'll need to prepare for the Champions League because it's a very important competition," coach Mauricio Pochettino said after a 4-0 weekend win over Clermont saw them maintain a 100 per cent domestic record.
Manchester United will meet Villarreal, who beat them in an epic Europa League final penalty shoot-out last term, in Group F but are on a high going into their Tuesday opener at Switzerland's Young Boys after Ronaldo's brace helped them beat Newcastle 4-1 on Saturday.
Their local rivals City are also motoring after losing last year's final.
“The last three weeks was so good," said manager Pep Guardiola before his side host RB Leipzig the other Group A game. "The way we trained was a little bit of a surprise after what we achieved last season.
“The commitment of everyone was excellent. They know exactly what we want to do, what we want to practice, and I think the mechanism is much better."
PSG also rejected a massive transfer bid for Kylian Mbappe from 13-time record winners Real Madrid, who will expect to ease out of Group D which also includes Shakhtar Donetsk and Sheriff.
Seven-time champions AC Milan are back in the elite competition for the first time since 2014 and meet Liverpool for only the third time competitively after the finals (lost) in 2005 and (won) in 2007.
Their Group B, which also contains Atletico Madrid and Porto, is arguably the best of the competition.
Chelsea start Tuesday in Group H at home to Zenit St Petersburg, whose stadium hosts the 2022 final, and also take on Malmo and Juventus.
Source: DPA
