Champions League draw: Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Atletico and Real Madrid await fate

Manchester City could come up against future manager Pep Guardiola

A view of the Champions League trophy (Getty)

Manchester City will discover on Friday whether they face an early meeting with their next manager, Pep Guardiola, in the Champions League semi-finals.

City will welcome Guardiola as Manuel Pellegrini's successor in the summer but, before then, the Spaniard could prove the last obstacle blocking them from the final of Europe's elite competition.

The surprise elimination of Guardiola's former side Barcelona means his current one, Bayern Munich, are now the clear favourites to triumph in Milan on May 28 - but his future team could have something to say about that.

City reached the semi-finals for the first time in their history with a superb victory over Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday and now sense an unexpected opportunity to send the outgoing Pellegrini off on a glorious high.

"That would be the best, but we still have a lot of work to do to achieve that," said defender Bacary Sagna, ahead of a semi-final draw that will also feature Madrid rivals Real and Atletico.

"At this stage of the competition you are going to face a good team. No matter who you are going to face it is going to be hard and we'll have to show great character. And we'll have to pull out another great performance."

Should City be paired with Bayern, the clash between Pellegrini, who last reached the semi-finals with Villarreal in 2006, and Guardiola, twice winner with Barca, would be an intriguing one.

City announced in February that they had secured the services of the much-coveted Guardiola from the end of the season, putting to an end years of speculation linking them with the 45-year-old.

Pellegrini has not expressed any public dissatisfaction with the process, agreeing to waive the one-year extension he agreed last summer and step aside at the end of his original contract.

He has also downplayed the significance of any potential Guardiola meeting by saying he will prepare "exactly the same" but the personal duel between the managers would nevertheless command plenty of attention.

Bayern would also be a familiar foe for City having met them in the group stages in three of the previous four seasons. The Germans have the upper hand in terms of meaningful results in those contests but City did win three of the six clashes.

City also played Real Madrid in the 2012-13 group stages, losing at the Bernabeu and playing out a 1-1 draw at the Etihad Stadium. Atletico would be a new opponent.

The semi-finals are to be played on April 26/27 and May 3/4.