UEFA have tweaked the seeding system for this season’s tournament. Pot one now contains the Champions League holders FC Barcelona and the winning teams from the top seven leagues.
City are in Pot two alongside both the Madrid sides, Arsenal and Manchester United.
Pot One
Barcelona, Chelsea, Bayern München, Juventus, Benfica, Paris Saint-Germain, Zenit and PSV Eindhoven.
City will need some good fortune to avoid the major contenders for the tournament. However, that’s not how it’s usually worked out with the Blues regularly being paired with five-time champions Bayern Munich. We have been placed in the same group as Munich on three of the last four occasions since our debut campaign in 2011/2012.
Holders Barcelona are without doubt the toughest opponents that City could potentially face - especially so early in the competition. An incredible 2014/15 season saw Luis Enrique’s side complete the treble with arguably the deadliest strike force in Europe in Neymar, Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi.
According to UEFA’s coefficient rankings, City’s best hopes of a first-ever first-place finish in the group stages would be if they were to be placed in a group alongside the Russian or Dutch Champions, Zenit or PSV.
Pot Two
City, Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, FC Porto, Arsenal, Valencia, Manchester United, Bayer Leverkusen
Pot Three
Olympique Lyonnais, Dynamo Kyiv, Olympiacos, Galatasaray, Roma, Shakhtar Donetsk, Sevilla, CSKA Moscow
City are no strangers to Pot Three dangers’ AS Roma having faced them in last year’s group stage. City got their first European victory in Italy back in December thanks to goals from Samir Nasri and Pablo Zabaleta.
If CSKA can overturn their play-off tie to Sporting Lisbon, they too would represent familiar opposition, while Galatasaray and Dynamo Kyiv would also be no pushovers.
Pot Four
Borussia Mönchengladbach, Wolfsburg, Dinamo Zagreb, Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Gent, Malmö, Astana, BATE Borisov
City would be happy if they can avoid both the German sides, with Wolfsburg’s squad containing some household names like Andre Schurrle, Nickolas Bendtner and teenage sensation Kevin De Bruyne, who’s been a constant figure in the tabloids regarding a potential move to the Etihad in recent weeks.
You can follow the group stage draw in our live blog here on mcfc.co.uk from 4pm on Thursday.
