Yahoo Sports Champions League: Who can Man City face in group stage?
Manchester City go again in this season’s Champions League after heartache in the final last season at the hands of Chelsea.
Kai Havertz’s goal in Porto denied Pep Guardiola’s side, leading to the Cityzens splashing £100 million on Jack Grealish to further boost their chances of becoming European champions.
FOLLOW LIVE: Champions League draw takes place as Premier League clubs learn opponents
Harry Kane could yet arrive, though negotiations with Tottenham are non-existent for the time being.
City remain one of the favourites though, tucked in behind Paris Saint-Germain after their acquisition of Lionel Messi.
Here’s everything you need to know about the 2021/22 Champions League group-stage draw and who the Cityzens could face.
When is it?
The draw for the group stage will take place in Istanbul on Thursday 26 August at 5pm BST.
How can I watch it?
European football governing body Uefa will stream the draw live on their website.
In the UK, BT Sport will also air the draw live on BT Sport 2 HD and the broadcaster’s site.
Group-stage draw pots
Pot one: Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Atlético de Madrid, Villarreal, Inter Milan, Sporting, Lille
Pot two: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool, Sevilla, Borussia Dortmund
Pot three: Porto, Ajax, Leipzig, Atalanta, Zenit Saint Petersburg, Benfica, Shakhtar, Salzburg
Pot four: Brugge, Young Boys, AC Milan, Malmo, Wolfsburg, Sheriff Tiraspol, Besiktas, Dynamo Kiev
Who can Man City draw?
Due to playing in the same league, City cannot draw pot two teams Manchester United or Liverpool, which means a tough test is almost certain to greet them in the group stage with one of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, Sevilla and Borussia Dortmund.
City can therefore face any of pot three teams Porto, Ajax, Leipzig, Atalanta, Benfica, Zenit Saint Petersburg, Shakhtar Donetsk or Salzburg.
That means City could face AC Milan in pot four, with Brugge, Wolfsburg, Young Boys and Malmo options too, as well as Sheriff Tiraspol, Besiktas and Dynamo Kiev.
To conclude, an example of a tough group on paper for City could be: Paris Saint-German, Zenit Saint Petersburg, AC Milan.
A slightly kinder draw to many might be: Sevilla, Ajax, Sheriff.
How does the draw work?
The teams will be split into four seeding pots. Pot 1 will be made up of the holders (Chelsea), the Europa League winners (Villarreal) and the champions of the six highest-ranked nations – given neither Chelsea nor Villarreal won their domestic leagues. Pots 2 to 4 will be determined by club coefficient rankings.
No team can play a side from their own domestic league. The pots will be confirmed before the draw ceremony begins.
A number of awards from the 2020/21 edition of the competition will also be handed out.
When does the Champions League group stage take place?
Matchday 1: 14/15 September
Matchday 2: 28/29 September
Matchday 3: 19/20 October
Matchday 4: 2/3 November
Matchday 5: 23/24 November
Matchday 6: 7/8 December
Who are the favourites to win the competition?
PSG: 16/5
Chelsea: 9/1
Man City: 41/10
Bayern Munich: 41/5
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