City fear another 'group of death' ahead of Champions League draw

London, Aug 30(ANI): English champions Manchester City are once again fearing the probability of landing into another group of death in Champions League group stage similar to last year.

The Champions League draw would be made in Monaco on Thursday, and City manager Roberto Mancini is keeping his fingers crossed.

Mancini is under pressure to make a big impact on Europe's elite competition after City's disappointing showing last year, but despite being the Premier League champions, City is only among the second pot of seeds for the group stage draw.

The reason behind City's position in the second pot of seeds is that the last season was their first in European football's top club competition, and it could spell trouble again for Mancini's men, The Daily Star reports.

City crashed out of the Champions League early last season after being handed a nightmare group containing Napoli, Bayern Munich and Villarreal.

This time around City will face one of the top-eight seeds again, with Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern, Porto or AC Milan all possibilities.

City could also be drawn against Italian champions Juventus, French giants PSG or Dutch masters Ajax from pot three.

Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea are all among the top seeds for the tournament and should get an easier draw.

City suffered from being ranked as third seeds last season and ended up being relegated into the Europa League after finishing third in their group.

Teams from the same country cannot be drawn in the same group so none of the four English teams can meet until the knockout stages. In total, 32 clubs will be drawn into eight groups of four teams.

The group stages will begin on September 18, with two teams from each group progressing to the knockout round and the third-placed teams going into the Europa League. The final will be played at Wembley on May 25. (ANI)