Holders Manchester City And Rivals Set For Champions League Draw

Holders Manchester City and the cream of European football will learn their Champions League fate for this season when the draw for the group stage takes place in Monaco on Thursday from 16:00 GMT. After several near misses in recent years, Pep Guardiola's side won the trophy for the first time when they defeated Inter Milan 1-0 in last season's final in Istanbul in June thanks to a solitary Rodri goal. They are therefore in the first pot of seeds for this season's group phase, along with Europa League winners Sevilla as well as Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Napoli, Paris Saint-Germain, Feyenoord and Benfica.

Those six clubs are, like City, the champions of the top ranked European nations, and the format of the draw means many of the teams to avoid will therefore be in the second pot.

That is where record 14-time European champions Real Madrid -- winners in 2022 -- lurk along with the likes of Inter and Premier League giants Arsenal and Manchester United.

The Gunners are back in Europe's elite club competition for the first time since 2016/17 after Mikel Arteta's side finished second behind City in England last season.

The fourth Premier League representatives are Newcastle United, who have not appeared in the Champions League in two decades and will be in pot four for the draw.

That means the Magpies can expect to find themselves in an extremely tough group, with Borussia Dortmund and Atletico Madrid also in pot two and AC Milan and Lazio among the third seeds.

As well as Newcastle, fresh faces in this season's competition include Lens of France, who are also back in the Champions League for the first time in 20 years.

Union Berlin will be appearing for the first time in their history after finishing fourth in the