Manchester City’s fate in the Champions League group stages was revealed today, with the Blues ending up in Group C alongside Barcelona, Borussia Monchengladbach and Celtic – City have played against two of those teams in recent seasons.
The start of the Champions League group stage is just three weeks away and already City fans are salivating at the prospect of seeing Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City locking horns with the likes of FC Barcelona.
And games against Borussia Monchengladbach and Celtic won’t be too shabby either, though you would expect both Barcelona and City to be the teams that progress to the latter stages of the competition.
Conversely, there are a lot of interesting factors in City’s Champions League group – which we will dissect as we take a closer look at Manchester City’s Champions League opponents?
What do you make of the Champions League draw for City? Let us know your thoughts by tweeting us @ReadManCity.
FC Barcelona
Pep Guardiola has already returned to the Nou Camp as manager of Bayern Munich two years ago in the Champions League and this year he will be back at his old stomping ground with his Manchester City side.
In recent seasons, City have been regular opponents for the La Liga winners, having been paired with Barcelona in the last 16 in 2013/14 and 2014/15 and losing on both occasions.
Another connection is that new City signing Claudio Bravo will be playing against his former employers sooner than expected.
Pep Guardiola’s City vs Luis Enrique’s Barcelona should be an absolute treat.
Borussia Monchengladbach
For the second year running, City and German side Monchengladbach meet in the Champions League group stages.
Die Fohlen finished bottom of Group D last season but did cause plenty of problems for City in both fixtures; the Blues having to come from behind both home and away to get the win.
In every Champions League campaign for City since 2011/12, they have had a German side in their group and it’s no different this year.
It seems like City’s current boss knows a thing or two about German football, so that could come in handy.
Celtic
Celtic and Manchester City will meet competitively for the first time in the Group C, with both sides qualifying through the Champions League play-off round.
Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers is an advocate of Pep Guardiola’s style of play so it should be an interesting tactical battle between the two coaches in the two meetings.
With a shorter journey for both sets and fans, there may well be a special atmosphere at both Parkhead and the Etihad Stadium.
In terms of ex players, Celtic have former City defenders Kolo Toure and Dedryck Boyata in their ranks.
A final note is that on-loan winger Patrick Roberts is available to play for Celtic because of a change in rules on UEFA’s part about players on loan being able to play against their parent clubs.
Roberts’ scoring against City would an interesting story to say the least…
What do you make of the draw?
City face Barcelona for the third time in four seasons, so should City fear the Catalan Giants this time around?
How many points do you expect City to get in the group stage?
Let us know your thoughts by tweeting us @ReadManCity.