Man City are back in the Champions League next season after securing a top five finish
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The UEFA Champions League trophy
The UEFA Champions League trophy
Manchester City will return to the Champions League next season after securing a top five Premier League finish on the final day of the season.
City beat Fulham 2-0 at Craven Cottage on Sunday. Ilkay Gundogan put City ahead in the first half with a stunning overhead kick before an Erling Haaland penalty in the final quarter secured the points and a third place finish.
And that result was enough to send them into the 2025-26 Champions League.
That is huge news for City, who will benefit financially from the riches on offer as well as potentially being able to sign better players in the summer window.
The Blues join Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcastle United and Europa League winners Tottenham in next season's competition.
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And despite not qualifying for the Champions League as Premier League winners for the first time for four years, City will not have to go through any qualifiers to seal their place in the competition.
City go straight into the 36-team league phase and will bypass the qualification rounds and the play-off round - where Scottish Champions Celtic enter the competition for example - and secure the guarantee of eight European matches.
The draw will take place at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on August 28.
The teams will be manually drawn before automated software selects their eight different opponents at random and also decides which matches are home and away.
Each team will play two opponents from each pot, one at home and one away. Teams cannot play sides from their own domestic league - meaning United will not play Liverpool, Arsenal or any other Premier League outfit - while clubs will play a maximum of two teams from one other country.
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