UEFA Champions League 2024/25: List of teams Manchester City are set to face in league phase of tournament
Manchester City have learned their eight opponents for the league stage of the UEFA Champions League 2024/25. The tournament is set to take place in a new format this season with 36 teams participating instead of the usual 32.
Each team will play eight different opponents in the league phase of the competition. The fixtures are uniformly distributed with a team playing four games at home and the remainder of the matches away from home.
2022-23 UCL champions Manchester City are one of the strongest teams in European football at the moment. Pep Guardiola's side will play Inter Milan, Club Brugge, Feyenoord, and Sparta Praha at the Etihad.
City will play Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus, Sporting CP, and Slovan Bratislava on the road. It's a mixed set of fixtures for the reigning English champions.
The Cityzens will expect to comfortably get past Club Brugge, Feyenoord, Sparta Praga, and Bratislava. However, Juventus, PSG, and Inter Milan are European powerhouses and will pose a significant challenge.
Sporting CP, meanwhile, can never be taken lightly as they have the ability to pull off an upset.
Manchester City finally broke their jinx in the Champions League in the 2022-23 season. The team have played like a well-oiled machine in the Premier League under Guardiola. Whether they can leverage the new league format of the UCL remains to be seen.
Fabio Capello backs Manchester City to be successful in this season's Champions League
Former AC Milan manager Fabio Capello reckons Manchester City have what it takes to succeed in this season's UEFA Champions League. Capello thinks the new format will force the team to make more calculations.
However, he is certain about City's quality and believes Erling Haaland is in better form than he was last season. Speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Capello said (via Football Italia):
"City have everything to do well. They have experience, determination, and quality, and Haaland is seemingly better than last season."
Manchester City won the competition in 2022-23, their first-ever UCL triumph. However, they suffered a heartbreaking penalty shootout loss against Real Madrid in the quarter-final last season.
City have a deep squad comprising elite players like Erling Haaland, Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, and others. They have also brought back the evergreen Ilkay Gundogan from Barcelona this summer. Few players in world football can make an impact in big games like the German midfielder does.