The draw for the new Swiss-style group stage matches took place at 12 noon UK time today, with the Red Devils having to play one team from each pot at home and one different team from each pot away, for a total of eight group stage matches.

The Rangers tie will be of particular interest to Sir Alex Ferguson, who is a legend at both clubs.

Another interesting encounter will be against former manager José Mourinho at Fenerbahce. Former player Sofyan Amrabat is also set to sign for the Turkish club so could be out to prove a point after Ineos decided against making last season’s loan deal permanent.

That match alongside an away tie against FC Porto is probably the most difficult in a set of fixtures that United will be happy with.

PAOK are currently top of the Greek Superleague. Glimt, the Norwegian side, will also travel to Old Trafford along with Dutch side FC Twente.

United’s travelling support can book a trip to Pilsen in Czechia and Bucharest to watch the Red Devils take on Viktoria and FCSB, respectively.

United have avoided quite a few potential banana skins, such as Roma, Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad.

This season’s group matchdays are: 25/26 September 2024, 3 October 2024, 24 October 2024, 7 November 2024, 28 November 2024, 12 December 2024, 23 January 2025 and 30 January 2025.

The dates of each match will be announced by UEFA tomorrow.

Kick-off times for the group games will be 17:45 or 20:00 UK time.

The top eight teams in the overall league will go straight through to the round of 16. The teams ranked from 9th to 24th will have to play in a two-legged knockout play-off, with the teams ranked from 9th to 16th seeded for the draw. Teams ranked from 25th to 36th are eliminated and do not drop down to the Conference Leagu