Europe’s giants await draw

The champions of England, Spain, Italy and Germany could all be in the same group when the draw for the Champions League takes place in Monaco today (5pm).

UEFA’s seeding system, based on the club’s coefficients, has thrown up the possibility of the champions of the four strongest nations all having to play each other in the group phase.

City will be the only English club not among the top seeds for today’s — despite being domestic champions, Roberto Mancini’s side still have a relatively low UEFA coefficient, meaning they will be among the pot of eight second seeds while European champions Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United are in the pot of eight top seeds.