Pep Guardiola's treble-winning side is yet again competing in the Champions League, after securing the UCL trophy at the end of their glorious 2023/24 campaign. As they prepare to protect their title, the Citizens are awaiting to see what opponents they will get in the group stage.
After a 1-0 victory over Inter Milan in the Champions League final, Manchester City will enter the elite championship as the European champions for the first time. Since City has already secured qualification by winning both the Premier League and the Champions League last season, they will be placed in Pot One, sharing it with Sevilla, the winners of the Europa League, along with Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Napoli, PSG, Benfica, and Feyenoord.
Pot One comprises defending champions City and Europa League victors Sevilla, in addition to the champions from the highest-ranked six national leagues according to UEFA country coefficients. Notably, Eredivisie champions Feyenoord have surprisingly made it into this pot.
The Citizens can't face teams from the same pot as them and they also can't face English teams, which rules out Arsenal, Manchester United or Newcastle as potential opponents.
There are still six teams to be decided during this week's final qualifying round.
Champions League 2023/24 confirmed pots
Pot 1: Manchester City, Sevilla, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Paris-Saint Germain, Benfica, Feyenoord, Napoli.
Pot 3: Red Star Belgrade, Shakhtar Donetsk, Red Bull Salzburg, AC Milan, Lazio.
Pot 4: Newcastle, Union Berlin, Lens.
Unconfirmed: Real Sociedad, Celtic
Champions League 2023/24 Group Stage Fixtures
- Round 1: September 19th/20th, 2023
- Round 2: October 3rd/4th, 2023
- Round 3: October 24th/25th, 2023
- Round 4: November 7th/8th, 2023
- Round 5: November 28th/29th, 2023
- Round 6: December 12th/13th, 2023