• Champions League

City could get AC Milan and Barcelona in CL group

ESPN staff
August 25, 2011
Champions League holders Barcelona could lie in wait for Manchester City © Getty Images
Enlarge

The Champions League group stage draw takes place at 1700 BST, and ESPN.co.uk will be providing live courage

Manchester City could face the champions of Spain, Italy and Germany after being named in pot three for Thursday's Champions League group stage draw.

City, appearing in the competition for the first time, would end up taking on Barcelona, AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund in the worst-case scenario.

And even though they have shelled out £75 million this summer, with Samir Nasri the latest arrival on Wednesday, City would face a tough ask to clamber out of such a fearsome group.

But should the draw be kinder, they could find themselves pitted against Porto, CSKA Moscow and Romanian side Otelul Galati.

Meanwhile, the other English teams involved - Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United - are all in the top tier of the seedings, putting them in pole position to secure a route through to the knockout stages.

Champions League draw seedings

Pot one: Manchester United, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Porto, Inter Milan
Pot two: Shakhtar Donetsk, Lyon, Villarreal, AC Milan, Valencia, Marseille, CSKA Moscow, Benfica
Pot three: Zenit St Petersburg, Manchester City, Olympiakos, Ajax, Bayer Leverkusen, Basle, Lille, Trabzonspor
Pot four: Napoli, Genk, Borussia Dortmund, BATE, Dinamo Zagreb, APOEL, Otelul Galati, Viktoria Pizen

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Close

ABOUT COOKIES

To help make this website better, to improve and personalize your experience and for advertising purposes, are you happy to accept cookies and other technologies.

More Info Here Cookie Choices