Manchester City opinion: Manchester City – Champions League preview
Champions of England, Manchester City, have failed at the same hurdle in the last two seasons against domestic opposition. In 2017/18, it was against Liverpool, who went on to become runners-up. In 2018/19, it was against Tottenham Hotspur, who also met the same fate.
Regardless, they head into this season as one of the strong favourites because of their dominance in the Premier League and Pep Guardiola’s pedigree. After all, he is a two-time winner of the competition with Barcelona.
With a couple of new signings and a good start to their Premier League campaign, they will be hoping that this can finally be their year. A lot will depend on the fitness of their talisman Kevin De Bruyne, who was injured for most of last season.
Fixture Analysis
They’ve been drawn in Group C and have a mostly favourable group alongside Ukranian Champions Shaktar Donetsk, who they’ll be facing for the 3rd season in succession in the group stages.
They also face the most exciting Serie A side in ages in Atalanta, who play a very exciting and attacking brand of football.
The other side is Croatian Champions Dinamo Zagreb, who are going to be a very tricky side at their home ground. An away trip to Zagreb will be their first fixture and they’ll be hoping to get that out of the way as soon as possible.
The one that City will keep in mind is the 4th fixture against Atalanta, away from home, which precedes a very important domestic tie against Liverpool at Anfield.
Predictions
City will be clear favourites to top the group, despite the tricky fixtures. They should be able to win all their home games comfortably and be able to rest players for the away games.
Read more Manchester City news, click here – Manchester City latest news
Predictions for the rest of the competition will be premature without considering the form of the other big favourites but anything less than a semi-final appearance will be considered a failure due to the investments since Guardiola’s arrival.