Trent Alexander-Arnold, PSG, Barcelona and the winners & losers of the 2025-26 Champions League draw
Pep Guardiola will obviously be quick to point out that there are no easy games in the Champions League and that a return to Real Madrid will bring back a lot of unhappy memories for Manchester City, given they suffered a tame play-off round elimination at Santiago Bernabeu last season, However, there’s simply no getting away from the fact that Thursday’s draw went quite well for the Catalan coach.
Getting Galatasaray at home rather than away means City have avoided a trip to ‘Hell’, and they won’t have to break down Borussia Dortmund’s ‘Yellow Wall’ either, with BVB due at the Etihad as their Pot One opponent.
Antonio Conte’s Napoli will obviously be a tough nut to crack but, again, they’ve avoided having to travel to the Maradona to take on the reigning Italian champions and instead will be able to welcome club icon Kevin De Bruyne back to the stadium where he thrilled fans for a decade. In fact, as it stands, their most arduous journey will be the one they make to northern Norway to face Bodo/Glimt, who should be overcome with the minimum of fuss.
City obviously have their issues at the moment, but games against the likes of Erik ten Hag’s Bayer Leverkusen will present Pep with opportunities to resolve them in time for the knockout stage.
