Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images
Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images
Manchester City have discovered their Champions League fate after the draw for the group stage took place on Thursday afternoon.
The Citizens will be up against Borussia Dortmund, Napoli, Real Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Bodo/Glimt, Galatasaray, Monaco and Villarreal in the Champions League group stage.
Manchester City will travel to face Real, Villarreal, Bodo/Glimt and Monaco, while Dortmund, Napoli, Leverkusen and Galatasaray will come to the Etihad Stadium.
One of the teams drawn against Man City could cause a particular problem for Pep Guardiola, who may well consider making a transfer U-turn in the wake of the draw.
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Head coach Okan Buruk of Galatasaray looks on during the pre-season friendly match between Galatasaray and SS Lazio at Rams Park Stadium on August 2, 2025
Photo by Ahmad Mora/Getty Images
Manchester City may be reluctant to sell to Galatasaray now they’re Champions League rivals
Man City are looking to move a number of players on in the final few days of the transfer window, and one club is after quite a few of them.
Galatasaray are currently in talks with Man City over Ederson, and Galatasaray have also been keen on bringing Manuel Akanji to Turkey this summer.
In addition, the Turkish giants are said to be interested in Ilkay Gundogan – so there could potentially be three players who know City inside out playing for Gala in the coming weeks.
As far as City’s transfer activity is concerned, this is the one thing they didn’t want to happen – going up in the Champions League against a side that could boast several of their former players.
Even if City loan any of those players out to Galatasaray, there is no rule forbidding a player from turning out against his parent club in the Champions League as is the case in the Premier League.
Man City had a big scare in 2022/23 when the Arsenal side they sold Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus to ended up becoming their direct title rivals.
With that in mind, Guardiola and Hugo Viana may well look to avoid selling to Galatasaray and finding other suitors for their surplus players instead.
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When Manchester City are set to play their Champions League fixtures
Man City’s first Champions League game of 2025/26 will take place between September 16-18.
A further five rounds take place in 2025, specifically on September 30-October 1, October 21-22, November 4-5, November 25-26, and December 9-10.
The final two league phase games will happen in January 2026, with every final match taking place on the same date.
The penultimate match will take place on January 20-21 before the final game on Wednesday, January 28.
Fixture dates and times specific to each club will be confirmed on Saturday 30 August.