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The Champions League draw was clearly more favourable to some English clubs than others, with Liverpool having plenty to be pleased about, while one team has been left with a particularly steep challenge.

Thursday’s draw produced 144 fixtures in all, setting up several mouth-watering contests to come.

The Premier League’s representatives will look at their respective schedules with very different blends of excitement and concern.

Here is our ranking of the five English clubs based on the difficulty of their draw, from the easiest to the hardest.

Atletico Madrid (h), Inter (a), Porto (h), Club Brugge (a), Villarreal (h), Fenerbahce (a), Lens (h), LASK (a).

Opponents’ average league position: 2.3

Opponents from Europe’s big five leagues: Four

Liverpool were given the two sides they would probably have chosen themselves from pot one, which makes their draw the most favourable among the English clubs.

The Reds will make the longest single journey of any English side when they travel to Fenerbahce, but in overall terms, another English club will clock up more air miles.

Bayern (h), Atletico (a), Roma (h), Sporting (a), Leipzig (h), Villarreal (a), Sabah (h), Como (a).

Opponents’ average league position: 2.6

Big five opponents: Six

Distance to travel: 3748 miles (round-trips: 7496 miles)

Furthest away trip: Sporting Lisbon

Manchester United will travel farther than any other English club, even if journeys to Spain, Portugal and Italy do not immediately make the schedule feel especially extreme.

They are also up against the joint-highest number of teams from Europe’s top five leagues, but taken together, their opponents posted the lowest average domestic finishing position from last season.

Real Madrid (h), Bayern Munich (a), Borussia Dortmund (h), Real Betis (a), Lille (h), Napoli (a), Sabah (h), Slavia Prague (a).

Opponents’ average league position: 2.1

Distance to travel: 3240 miles (round-trips: 6480 miles)

Furthest away trip: Real Betis

It is an intimidating-looking draw for Arsenal, who have been paired with Bayern and Madrid, the clubs ranked first and third in the UEFA club rankings, with the Gunners themselves second.

They also drew the highest-ranked team in pot two, though the level of difficulty drops off sharply deeper into their list of fixtures. Mikel Arteta’s side will also cover the second-shortest travel distance among the Premier League clubs.

PSG (h), Barcelona (a), Sporting (h), Porto (a), Napoli (h), Leipzig (a), AEK (h) and Lens (a).

Opponents’ average league position: 1.6

Big five opponents: Five

Distance to travel: 2693 miles (round-trips: 5386 miles)

Furthest away trip: Porto

Manchester City will come up against the champions of France and Europe, Spain, Portugal and Greece and, taken as a whole, their opponents recorded the second-highest average league finish last season.

Pots one and three were not especially generous, while pot two delivered a Portuguese double, and City will not have fond memories of their previous meeting with Sporting.

PSG (h), Barcelona (a), Dortmund (h), Club Brugge (a), Fenerbahce (h), Galatasaray (a), Viking (h), Slavia Prague (a).

Opponents’ average league position: 1.38

Distance to travel: 3396 miles (round-trips: 6792 miles)

Furthest away trip: Galatasaray

Oof. Villa really could not have ended up with tougher selections from pots one and two. And pot three, which brought a Turkish double, was hardly any kinder.

Overall, Aston Villa will face five domestic champions and not one side that finished lower than runners-up in their league last season.

All of that would have looked daunting enough even before Unai Emery’s side had its spine ripped out.