Sky Blue News: Barca v City, Carabao Cup Draw, UCL Draw, and More...

Match Recap: FC Barcelona 3-3 Manchester City - CITYZENDuck - Bitter and Blue

My take on what was a very entertaining spectacle at Camp Nou.

The match went to half time knotted at the same 1-1 score. After the break, it was more back and forth from the clubs. Frenkie de Jong (66’) put the Catalans ahead, and City quickly leveled on a goal from Cole Palmer (70’). Aubameyang’s replacement Memphis Depay scored (79’) to pull Barcelona back in front, only to see Man CIty replacement Riyad Mahrez (90’) secure the draw at the end.

A fun match from two of the world’s biggest clubs for an incredibly worthy cause. It was a wonderful display of talent and goals from both sides. City may be back in Catalonia very soon depending on the upcoming Champions League draw, but whether they are or not they definitely enjoyed their in-season Spanish vacation. And young Palmer came away as City’s Man of the Match.

Manchester City suffer double injury blow in Barcelona charity friendly - Harry Winters - City Xtra

City did not escape this in-season friendly unscathed however.

It would end all square at the Camp Nou, after Mahrez converted from the penalty spot, after Erling Haaland was tripped in the box.

Concerningly for Pep Guardiola, City suffered two potentially significant injury blows in the second-half.

Kalvin Phillips, who was making his first start since his £42 million move from Leeds United, was forced off after suffering an innocuous injury to his arm.

The Englishman had only just returned from an injury, and was replaced during the second-half due to problem.

Meanwhile, teenage defender Luke Mbete was involved in a nasty collision towards of the end of fixture.

Carabao Cup 2022/23: Manchester City to host Chelsea in third round - Sky Sports

The Sky Blues face title rivals Chelsea in their entrance into the Carabao cup.

The tie is one of seven involving two Premier League sides, including newly-promoted Nottingham Forest vs Tottenham, Manchester United vs Aston Villa and Newcastle vs Crystal Palace, after the Magpies overcame a scare to beat Tranmere on Wednesday night.

Meanwhile, current holders Liverpool - who beat Chelsea on penalties in last season’s final at Wembley - will face League One side Derby, with Brentford drawn against Gillingham and Newport set to travel to face Leicester at the King Power.

Carabao Cup third round draw: Man City host Chelsea; Man Utd face Aston Villa - Tom Gott - 90min.com

Plenty of all-Prem matchups, and Liverpool get to face Derby County.

There will be seven all-Premier League ties in the third round of the 2022/23 Carabao Cup, one of which stands out from the rest.

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City will welcome Chelsea to the Etihad Stadium, with one of the pre-tournament favourites set for a very early exit from the competition.

Elsewhere, Manchester United will play host to Aston Villa, while Tottenham will travel to Premier League new boys Nottingham Forest, Arsenal also have a top flight opponent to prepare for in the form of Brighton.

Who Man City could face in the Champions League group stage draw - Alex Brotherton - Manchester Evening News

Another day, another cup competition draw for City.

How does the draw work?

The group stage sees 32 teams divided into eight groups of four, with teams playing each side in their group twice - once at home and once away.

Before the draw the 32 teams will be placed in one of four pots, and each group will be drawn with one team from each pot. Teams in the same pot and teams from the same country cannot be drawn into the same group.

Group winners and runner’s up progress to the Round of 16. Third place finisher’s will drop into the Europa League play-off round, where they will face Europa League group runners-up for places in the last 16 of that competition.

City are in Pot 1, the pot reserved for the reigning Champions League and Europa League winners (Real Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt) and the champions of six major European leagues. That means they will not face any of Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan, Porto or Ajax.

The other pots are determined by UEFA Club Coefficient rankings. Pot 2 has already been determined but Pot 3 and Pot 4 will be finalised after the conclusion of play-off ties on the 23rd and 24th August.

Champions League – Who Could Manchester City Face? - Manc Pete - Bitter and Blue

Pete takes a look just who Guardiola’s men could face in the UCL group stage.

The blues are looking to win the competition for the first time, after losing two Chelsea two seasons ago and missing out on a place in the final last time around, narrowly losing to eventual champions Real Madrid on aggregate.

As English champions, City are in pot 1, and therefore cannot be drawn with other champions, such as Real Madrid, AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Porto and Ajax and Europa League winners Eintracht Frankfurt.

However, pot 2 could throw up some interesting ties. City can’t be drawn against Liverpool, Chelsea or Spurs as they are from the same country, so could only face one of five teams. Barcelona, who have signed Bernardo Silva a million times over the summer, Sevilla and a tasty clash with Atletico Madrid could be on the cards, while Juventus are also in the mix. Finally, RB Leipzig could be making a return visit to Manchester between now and November.

SIX CITY PLAYERS SELECTED FOR ENGLAND WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS - George Kelsey - ManCity.com

And finally... The Man CIty Women’s side continues to supply The Lionesses with plenty of players.

Ellie Roebuck, Sandy MacIver, Alex Greenwood, Demi Stokes, Keira Walsh and Lauren Hemp have all been selected as part of Sarina Wiegman’s 23-player squad for fixtures against Austria and Luxembourg in early September.

But Euro 2022 final hero Kelly, who was brought off early in the second half of City’s UEFA Women’s Champions League clash with Real Madrid, has been ruled out for the latest round of fixtures.

The qualifiers represent England’s first matches since their historic triumph at the end of July, which brought an end to a 56-year wait for a major international honour.

There you have it. All the latest to get you ready for tonight’s UCL group stage draw. And keep it right here as we get you ready for Crystal Palace at the weekend.