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

Manchester City 2019-20 Premier League season preview

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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Key Points

• Manchester City
• Shakhtar Donetsk
• Dinamo Zagreb
• Atalanta

[29 August 2019 11:45 · Samuel Lovett]

Klopp talks down Liverpool's title chances

 

Jurgen Klopp thinks Liverpool face a daunting task in their bid to retain the Champions League title this season given the "crazy" depth of quality in the competition.

Klopp has led Liverpool to back-to-back Champions League finals but is adamant that their recent track record does not make them the title favourites.

"I will have no problem with it (reaching the final) if it happens again, but at this moment I am not too sure it will," the German said. "We have the same chance like everyone else, but that is all, and I don't see us, the English teams, dominating. I really think a lot of teams have a good chance."

Liverpool are among the top seeds in Pot One along with Chelsea, Barcelona, Manchester City, Juventus, Bayern Munich, Paris St Germain and Zenit St Petersburg for the Champions League group stage draw.

The quality of teams in the second pot - which includes Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund - have convinced Klopp there is no need to change the format of the competition when the current cycle ends in 2024.

"I don't think there was ever a stronger Pot Two. It is just crazy," the German added. "They should all be in Pot One, but there is not enough space there.”

[29 August 2019 12:02 · Samuel Lovett]

Premier League fans want improved Uefa finals experience

Fans of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur have together submitted a list of demands to Uefa after numerous complaints following the Champions League and Europa League finals last season.

A joint statement by Arsenal Supporters' Trust, Chelsea Supporters' Trust, Spirit of Shankly and Tottenham Hotspur Supporters' Trust covers various problems such as inadequate ticket allocations and inconvenient travel arrangements.

"We have drawn up a six-point action plan to improve the supporter experience," the statement read. "It has been referred to the Football Supporters' Association (FSA) and Football Supporters Europe (FSE). We now call on Uefa to engage in meaningful dialogue with supporters and address these points."

The clubs' supporters called for an 80% allocation of tickets to be made available to the finalists after Liverpool and Spurs were allocated only 16,613 tickets each for the Champions League showpiece at Atletico Madrid's 68,000-seat Wanda Metropolitano Stadium.

Suggestions were also made to choose stadiums with a minimum capacity of 60,000 for the Europa League final and 75,000 for the Champions League final, helping to keep ticket prices affordable.

Arsenal and Chelsea fans struggled to get to Baku for the Europa League showpiece due to a lack of direct flights to Azerbaijan's capital. Supporters asked Uefa to pick cities with good connectivity and the capacity to deal with thousands of visitors.

[29 August 2019 12:08 · Samuel Lovett]

Any Champions League draw wouldn't be complete without a predicted 'Group of Death'. In this case, though, there's more than one to consider.

'Group of Death' A:

Liverpool

Real Madrid

Inter

Leipzig

'Group of Death' B:

Manchester City

Atletico Madrid

Lyon

Galatasaray

'Group of Death' C:

Barcelona

Tottenham

Leverkusen

Lille

These are the worst case scenarios but given the quality on offer in each pot, it's safe to assume there'll be a number of difficult-looking groups drawn this evening.

[29 August 2019 12:23 · Samuel Lovett]

[29 August 2019 12:24 · Samuel Lovett]

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[29 August 2019 12:24 · Samuel Lovett]

[29 August 2019 12:25 · Samuel Lovett]

[29 August 2019 12:26 · Samuel Lovett]

And here's a reminder of how the four pots look:

[29 August 2019 12:53 · Samuel Lovett]

One from last week but a topic that refuses to go away:

[29 August 2019 13:07 · Samuel Lovett]

Champions League aside, Uefa's men's player of the year will also be announced this evening, with Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Virgil van Dijk all in contention.