Manchester City’s Premier League victory has strengthened the position of Pep Guardiola’s side as England’s best club and the next step is conquering the European stage.
So far, City have struggled to replicate their domestic dominance on the continent and the big ask next season will be for Guardiola to follow back-to-back league titles with success in the Champions League.
Winning the Premier League also comes with another added benefit as it means that City are guaranteed to be in pot 1 for the group stage draw next season, alongside other champions from across Europe.
Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Zenit St. Petersburg and Juventus are all set to join City in pot 1, along with the winners of the Bundesliga, the Champions League and the Europa League.
That means City will avoid the confusion of UEFA’s club co-efficients, which will decide the outcome for the rest of the three pots, and also means Guardiola will avoid being paired alongside the aforementioned sides.
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However, City could still be drawn alongside either Borussia Dortmund or Bayern Munich, Napoli, Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid, Sevilla and Roma, amongst others.
Because of that, City would also benefit if Liverpool won the Champions League and Chelsea won the Europa League because that would see the pair alongside them in pot 1, leaving two spots in pot 2 available for ‘lesser’ sides.
Therefore, the likelihood is that City will have at least one ‘big’ club alongside them in the group stages and could be a difficult group to navigate.
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