A post-Pep European education begins
There is a certain symmetry to the draw that landed in Monaco on Thursday. Manchester City's first European campaign without Pep Guardiola in charge will be defined by the ghosts of his tenure, with a fixture list that reads like a greatest hits compilation of recent continental heartbreak.
The Blues will face PSG at home, travel to Barcelona, host Napoli and Sporting CP, and take on RB Leipzig, Porto, AEK Athens and Lens across the League Phase. It is a programme that offers little in the way of gentle introduction.
The heavyweight bouts
PSG arrive at the Etihad as two-time defending champions, having become only the second club in history to win the trophy in back-to-back years. Their rise was built, in part, on a memorable 4-2 victory over Guardiola's City in Paris, a game in which they recovered from two goals down in the second half.
Barcelona, meanwhile, will host City at Camp Nou, a ground that holds painful memories for the away side. It was there, in Guardiola's first Champions League campaign in 2016, that the Blaugrana thumped City 4-0. They may no longer be the force of old, but a squad that recently secured a 29th LaLiga title is hardly in decline.
That reunion carries added spice given the presence of Rodri, who left City for the Spanish champions in a high-profile move following his World Cup success with Spain.
Familiar foes and fresh challenges
Napoli will be no strangers to the Etihad. City opened their 2025-26 campaign with a 2-0 win over the Partenopei, a game that saw Kevin De Bruyne return to his former club just weeks after joining them. Since then, Napoli have endured the embarrassment of a first-round exit under Antonio Conte and now hope for better under Massimiliano Allegri. They have also invested, turning loans of Rasmus Hojlund and Vanja Milinković-Savić into permanent deals worth a combined €65 million.
RB Leipzig bring back Christopher Nkunku on loan, and City's record against them is comfortably in their favour: four wins and one defeat from six meetings during Guardiola's reign.
Sporting CP are the potential banana skin. They finished inside the top eight of last season's League Phase, reached the quarter-finals for just the second time in their history, beat holders PSG 2-1, and produced a remarkable comeback from 3-0 down against Bodo/Glimt to win the return leg 5-0.
Porto, the reigning Portuguese champions after a 31st title, have kept clean sheets in all three of their league games so far this term.
It is, in short, a draw that offers City no favours and plenty of reminders of what came before. The post-Guardiola era starts here, and it starts with a fixture list that does not believe in easing anyone in gently.