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Manchester City’s Champions League draw - which games are crucial for City’s campaign?

Manchester City’s Champions League draw - which games are crucial for City’s campaign?

Will Davies
Will Davies
AUG 28, 2025

Manchester City’s Champions League draw has been revealed, and there is no shortage of headlines as City look to improve their European performance following two seasons of disappointment, going out in the quarter-finals and the play-off round to Real Madrid.

Pot 1

Manchester City will travel to the Bernabéu for the fifth straight season in the Champions League, albeit the first time before the knock-out stages, to face Real Madrid. When this fixture is played will be very important; if it takes place in the first few rounds, both teams will surely be content with a point and it could turn into a training exercise, as City’s opening fixture last season vs Inter did. If, however, it happens in the final few match-days, it could be a very interesting tie depending on what City and Madrid are playing for at that point.

At home, City will host star striker Erling Haaland’s former team Borussia Dortmund. The last time City faced Dortmund was in the group stages of the 22/23 season, when City went on to win the treble. City will perhaps look at this as a kinder draw given the teams in pot 1, to balance them getting one of the hardest away trips possible.

Pot 2

City will host another German team, as well as a former manager of their city rivals, when Erik Ten Hag’s Bayer Leverkusen travel to the Etihad. One talking point of this game is the possibility of City-loanee Claudio Echeverri facing his own club, as players are allowed to face parent-clubs in European competitions.

Away, City will travel to Spain to face Villareal, who have started their season on fire, winning both of their La Liga games, scoring 7 and conceding none, placing them provisionally top of the table. Villareal have known Champions League success recently, making the semifinals in 21/22 where they were defeated by Liverpool.

Pot 3

A major headline of the draw sees Napoli visit Manchester, with City legend Kevin De Bruyne in tow. Aside from this fact, which will obviously overshadow the fixture regardless of how the result ends up, City have a good record against Napoli in the few matches they’ve played against the reigning Italian champions, winning both of their fixtures in 2017 when the two teams met in the group stages.

City also travel to Champions League debutants Bodø/Glimt in Norway. Bodø have had a meteoric rise in Norwegian football, winning their first league title in 2020 in just their third season back in the top flight and winning three of the subsequent four league titles. The hosts will be excited to begin their Champions League journey, and will be looking to upset any big club that comes their way, making them potentially tricky opponents.

Pot 4

Galatasaray will travel to face City, a fact made very interesting by the interest they have shown in multiple of City’s current players, most notably Ederson. Galatasaray are one of the harder teams in pot 4, but City will be happy to have the tie at home, saving them a lengthy trip across the continent and having to face an intimidating Turkish crowd.

Finally, City will travel to Monaco in a fixture that will see club captain Bernardo Silva return to his former club. This fixture will conjure unwanted memories among City fans, calling back to the goal-heavy tie between the two clubs that saw City exit the Champions League in Pep Guardiola’s debut season. Both teams have changed massively since that tie, and it will be interesting to see how City manage an unwanted difficult away fixture out of the supposedly ‘weakest’ pot.

Conclusion - what games are most important?

If City are hoping to clinch top 8, which will put them straight into the round of 16, they will need to clinch around 16 points in the league phase. Making the most of their easier fixtures, specifically their trip to Norway and the Galatasaray fixture, will be imperative towards this goal. The home games against the two German teams will also be games that City will hope to take maximum points from. Finally, while the Madrid tie will seem exciting on paper, many City fans will be hoping that the fixture schedule renders it unimportant in their ultimate quest, to finish in the top 8.

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