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Manchester City discover their Champions League league phase opponents tonight.
Manchester City's Champions League campaign will be mapped out tonight when the League Phase draw takes place.
City are among the top seeds for the draw, which gets under way at 5pm, and will face two teams from each of the four pots in the revamped League Phase which debuted last season.
The single 36-team league sees the top eight sides progress straight to the knockout stages while those who finish between ninth and 24th head into a play-off round - a stage where City lost to Real Madrid last season. The bottom 10 teams are knocked out of Europe.
Pep Guardiola's side will be hoping for better in Europe this term but a lot will depend on the outcome of the draw, with plenty of dangerous sides lurking throughout. We take a look at the best and worst case scenarios for the Blues:
Pot one
City are one of nine sides in pot one and cannot face Liverpool or Chelsea because teams from the same nation are prevented from playing each other in the League Phase.
The remaining six teams are all powerhouses of European football and the nightmare scenario for City would be ties against defending champions PSG and Spanish giants Real Madrid, who knocked the Blues out of Europe last term.
Barcelona would also be testing opponents, as would Bayern Munich. The best case scenario would be ties against Borussia Dortmund and perhaps Inter Milan who, while beaten finalists last season, are under a new manager and do not have the attacking flair of others.
Pot two
Arsenal are in here but again City can't play the Gunners. The highest ranked non-English side in this section is Bayer Leverkusen, under the leadership of former Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag. While the Germans would be testing opposition it is perhaps Atletico Madrid who are the side to avoid given their pedigree. Italian giants Juventus would also be dangerous opposition and look a better side than the one who defeated City at this stage last term.
Juve's counterparts Atalanta are a dangerous floater and best avoided while La Liga's Villarreal and German club Eintracht Frankfurt could cause problems. Benfica and Club Brugge had to come through qualifying and perhaps look the preferred pair.
Pot three
Come in Kevin De Bruyne. The City great left the club in the summer after a glittering decade at the Etihad and joined Serie A champions Napoli. He scored on his debut and Napoli look the team to avoid here, even if the narrative of a De Bruyne return to the Etihad would be captivating.
Sporting Lisbon, another who beat City at this stage last term, look the next strongest side in this section which also contains Roberto De Zerbi's Marseille and Dutch pair PSV and Ajax. None of those three would hold too many fears for City but the preference would be for a match up against Slavia Prague.
City would fancy their chances against Olympiacos but a trip to Athens is always a difficult assignment so the dream scenario would be a date with Bodo/Glimt despite the lengthy trek to the Arctic Circle. Tottenham complete the pot.
Pot four
Newcastle are the only English representative in the final pot and of the other eight sides it is perhaps Turkish champions Galatasaray who are the most dangerous. They cantered to their domestic title last season and if the game was in Istanbul, City would face a hostile atmosphere.
Athletic Bilbao are dangerous opponents, as are Monaco while City could well face Champions League debutants with Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise, Cypriot outfit Pafos and Kairat from Kazakhstan all making their first appearance at this stage. Dates with the former two would be the first choice with Kairat best avoided given the lengthy away trip.
Best case fixtures: Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund, Benfica, Club Brugge, Slavia Prague, Bodo/Glimt, Union Saint-Gilloise, Pafos
Worst case fixtures: PSG, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Juventus, Napoli, Sporting, Galatasaray, Kairat
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