Champions League Draw: Who Will The Current Holders, Manchester City, Face?

Manchester City will find out their Champions League fate as the draw for the group stage is made on Thursday afternoon.

The blues will be looking to defend the title they won in such amazing fashion as Rodri’s second-half strike beat Inter Milan 1-0 in Istanbul.

City’s march to the final included memorable wins over Bayern Munich and Real Madrid and Pep Guardiola’s side will be looking to repeat the feat this season.

And we’ll be here to bring you the draw details as it happens, and also have our usual bit of fun along the way.

Who Could City Face?

As Premier League and current Champions League winners, City will be in Pot 1, along with Barcelona, Napoli, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Benfica and Feyenoord, along with Europa League winners and European Super Cup runners Up Sevilla. The format means there’s no chance of City meeting Ilkay Gundogan or Harry Kane in the group stage.

Pot 2 contains all the teams that didn’t win their respective leagues last season. Arsenal and Manchester United are in this pot, which limits the number of opponents City could face.

A grudge match with Real Madrid is a possibility, while Erling Haaland or Josko Gvardiol could face their former sides in the form of Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig. Another grudge match could see the blues paired with Inter Milan. The blues could also be drawn against Porto or Atletico Madrid.

Pot 3 sees some other European champions, with our old friends Shakhtar Donetsk in this pot. Another of Haaland’s former clubs, Salzburg, could be visiting Manchester, while AC Milan, Braga, Lazio and Red Star Belgrade are all possible destinations. PSV Eindhoven and FC Copenhagen complete the pot and City could face either.

Pot 4 is a heart-breaking one as Real Sociedad enter the competition. Sadly, it’ll be no return for the legend that is David Silva, who retired from football over the summer. Newcastle United make their welcome return to the Champions League, but the blues cannot face the Geordies. However, the could face Turkish side Galatasaray, Union Berlin or Lens, or maybe a short trip to Glasgow to face Celtic. A visit to Belgium and a match with Antwerp or Switzerland to face Young Boys is also possible.

Who would you like to see City face?