Man City Champions League draw: City to meet Atalanta, Shakhtar and Dinamo Zagreb in Group C
Pep Guardiola's Premier League champions have found out their opponents in Group C
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Manchester City have been drawn in Group C with Atalanta, Shakhtar Donetsk and Dinamo Zagreb in the Uefa Champions League., in what appears to be a favourable draw for the Premier League champions.
Atalanta are playing in their first ever Champions League after finishing third in Serie A last season. They were thrilling to watch, scoring more goals than champions Juventus, but they are relatively inexperienced and face an major challenge to get out of the group.
Pep Guardiola's side are desperate to get their hands on the biggest trophy of all after falling at the quarter-final stage a year ago. They look in ominous form once again this season and will be one of the teams to beat in the latter stages. They won't be alone with the competition looking as competitive as ever at the very sharp end with domestic rivals Liverpool looking to repeat as European champions.
Fixtures
September 18: Shakhtar (a)
October 1: Dinamo Zagreb (h)
October 22: Atalanta (h)
November 6: Atalanta (a)
November 26: Shakhtar (h)
December 11: Dinamo Zagreb (a)
All the latest reaction from Monaco right here:
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Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the 2019/20 Champions League group stage draw.
Before we go any further, first things first: the pots.
Pot one: Liverpool, Chelsea, Barcelona, Manchester City, Juventus, Bayern Munich, Paris St-Germain, Zenit St Petersburg
Pot two: Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Napoli, Shakhtar Donetsk, Tottenham, Ajax, Benfica
Pot three: Lyon, Bayer Leverkusen, Salzburg, Olympiakos, Club Bruges, Valencia, Inter Milan, Dinamo Zagreb
Pot four: Lokomotiv Moscow, Genk, Galatasaray, RB Leipzig, Slavia Prague, Red Star Belgrade, Atalanta, Lille
What's that? How will the draw work? Let me explain, friends.
So, the top pot contains the two Uefa competition winners as well as the champions of the six highest-ranked nations. That means Liverpool and Chelsea are joined by Manchester City, Barcelona, Juventus, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Zenit St Petersburg.
The remaining teams are then split across pots two to four by order of the club coefficient rankings.
No team can be drawn against a club from their own league.
Champions League calendar:
Matchday one: 17, 18 September
Matchday two: 1, 2 October
Matchday three: 22, 23 October
Matchday four: 5, 6 November
Matchday five: 26, 27 November
Matchday six: 10, 11 December:
Round of 16 draw: 16 December
Round of 16 first legs: 18, 19, 25, 26 February
Round of 16 second legs: 10, 11, 17, 18 March
Quarter-finals and semi-finals draw: 20 March
Quarter-finals first leg: 7, 8 April
Quarter-finals second leg: 14, 15 April
Semi-finals first leg: 28, 29 April
Semi-finals second leg: 5, 6 May
Final: 30 May
'Why are Man City in the hat when Uefa ban looms over this season’s competition?'
Tony Evans has the answers and takes a look at what comes next for Pep Guardiola's club:
All 32 teams in this evenings’s group stage draw ranked and rated:
NEW BALL ALERT!
Admittedly, it's a tad garish and kinda looks like a Champions League mascot has thrown up on it. But, you know what, I like it. There, I said it. Cuff me.
This is the sort of content I'm here for. Self-deprecation at its finest. Kudos, lads.
Chief football writer Miguel Delaney has taken a deep dive into Tottenham's current struggles. Here, he asks what is exactly going on behind closed doors at the club:
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