Manchester City handed Champions League fixtures against Barcelona, PSG and Napoli

Manchester City will begin their UEFA Champions League league-phase campaign away to Porto on 8 September, with matches against Paris Saint-Germain, Barcelona and Napoli also included in a demanding schedule announced by UEFA.

City, winners of the 2023 edition, will play their first Champions League campaign without Pep Guardiola, who left the club at the end of last season. The team is now managed by Italian coach Enzo Maresca.

The league-phase draw requires every club to face two opponents from each of the four available seeding pots. City’s eight fixtures include four home matches at the Etihad Stadium and four away games across Europe.

Their full schedule is:

– Porto v Manchester City 8 September, Estadio do Dragao – Manchester City v Paris Saint-Germain 14 October, Etihad Stadium – Manchester City v AEK Athens 20 October, Etihad Stadium – RB Leipzig v Manchester City 4 November, Red Bull Arena – Manchester City v Napoli 24 November, Etihad Stadium – Barcelona v Manchester City 8 December, Camp Nou – Lens v Manchester City 20 January, Stade Bollaert-Delelis – Manchester City v Sporting Lisbon 27 January, Etihad Stadium

The meeting with Barcelona will be one of the most notable games in City’s programme. Manchester City have failed to win five of their past six matches against the Catalan club.

City’s record against Paris Saint-Germain is more evenly balanced in terms of previous meetings, although the French side won the most recent encounter. The two teams have faced one another eight times, with Paris Saint-Germain claiming a 4-2 victory in matchday seven of the 2024/25 season.

The schedule gives City a sequence of high-profile fixtures alongside matches against Porto, AEK Athens, RB Leipzig, Napoli, Lens and Sporting Lisbon. Their campaign will start in Portugal before they return to the Etihad Stadium for consecutive home matches against Paris Saint-Germain and AEK Athens in October.

They will then travel to Germany to play RB Leipzig on 4 November, before hosting Napoli later that month. December brings the trip to Camp Nou to face Barcelona, while the final two matches listed in the league phase will see City visit Lens on 20 January and host Sporting Lisbon on 27 January.

UEFA’s announcement confirms the dates and venues for all eight of Manchester City’s league-phase matches as the club begins a new European campaign under Maresca.