MANCHESTER CITY could be handed two mouthwatering clashes with European champions Barcelona in Monaco today.
Manchester City go into the hat for their first ever Champions League draw this afternoon with the chance of being thrown in against the world’s best club side.
Roberto Mancini’s men could also be drawn with Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid, German giants Bayern Munich or Inter Milan.
The worst-case scenario would see City drawn in a group of death with Barcelona, AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund.
City will be joined in the draw for the group stage by last season’s runners-up Manchester United and Chelsea.
The Premier League sides will be kept apart as no teams from the same country can face each other at this early stage of the competition.
The draw will be made up of 22 clubs that have qualified automatically, along with the 10 sides that made it through the play-offs last night and Tuesday.
The 32 teams will be split between eight groups containing a top seed, plus one club each from the second, third and fourth pots.
Seedings are based on UEFA’s complicated coefficient system, with Champions League regulars United and Chelsea guaranteed to be among the top-ranked clubs.
Valencia, Marseille, CSKA Moscow and Ajax are among the potential opponents awaiting them.
City, meanwhile, will be making their debut in the competition and as a result are likely to be placed in the third pot of seeds.
Turkish club Fenerbahce were last night replaced by Trabzonspor in the group stages following match-fixing allegations.
The group stages begin on September 13. They will end on December 7, when the top two in each group will go through to the knock-out phase while the third-place side drops into the Europa League.
The final will be played at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany on May 19.
The Europa League draw takes place tomorrow.
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