Manchester City start their campaign to capture the elusive UEFA Champions League in a tricky group containing Marseille, Olympiacos and Porto. Having reached the quarter-finals over the last 3 seasons and not reaching the semi-final since 2016, Pep Guardiola will be hoping this will be their year.
Marseille
Marseille and Manchester City have never met before, so this will be the first visit for City to the Stade Vélodrome. Former Chelsea and Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas is in charge, leading Marseille to a runners-up spot in last season’s Ligue 1 as they didn’t compete in any European competition. However, financial restrictions limited their ability to strengthen their squad in the summer and they lost Bouna Sarr to Bayern Munich on deadline day.
For a full guide to the Stade Vélodrome, including history and travel information click here.
Olympiacos
City have never faced Olympiacos in European competition, although they did play them in a friendly as part of the International Champions Cup in August 2014 in Minneapolis, drawing 2-2 before losing 5-4 on penalties.
This will therefore be a first visit to the Karaiskakis Stadium for Manchester City. Former Portugal international Pedro Martins led Olympiacos to the league and cup double last season. In the UEFA Champions League they came third in a group containing Bayern Munich, Tottenham Hotspur and Red Star Belgrade before losing to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Round of 16 of the UEFA Europa League. In this season’s competition they have already had to overcome Omonia of Cyprus in the play-off round, winning 2-0.
For a full guide to the Karaiskakis Stadium, including history and travel information click here.
Porto
Manchester City have only faced Porto twice previously – in the first and second legs in February 2012 of Round of 32 in the 2011/2012 UEFA Europa League, in which they won 2-1 at the Estádio do Dragão thanks to a late winner from Sergio Agüero before winning 4-0 at home.
Porto as the reigning Primeira Liga champions will provide a stiff test for City, although they lost hot prospect Fábio Silva to Wolves and left back Alex Telles to Manchester United in the summer. In last season’s UEFA Champions League they lost to Russian side Krasnodar in the third qualifying round before progressing to the Round of 32 of the UEFA Europa League, in which they lost out to German’s Bayer Leverkusen.
For a full guide to Estádio do Dragão, including history and travel information click here.
2020-21 UEFA Champions League Group C Fixtures
21st October 2020 (20:00) – Manchester City 3-1 Porto (City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester)
21st October 2020 (20:00) – Olympiacos 1-0 Marseille (Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus)
27th October 2020 (20:00) – Porto 2-0 Olympiacos (Estádio do Dragão, Porto)
27th October 2020 (20:00) – Marseille 0-3 Manchester City (Stade Vélodrome, Marseille)
3rd November 2020 (20:00) – Manchester City 3-0 Olympiacos (City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester)
3rd November 2020 (20:00) – Porto 3-0 Marseille (Estádio do Dragão, Porto)
25th November 2020 (17:55) – Olympiacos 0-1 Manchester City (Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus)
25th November 2020 (20:00) – Marseille 0-2 Porto (Stade Vélodrome, Marseille)
1st December 2020 (20:00) – Porto 0-0 Manchester City (Estádio do Dragão, Porto)
1st December 2020 (20:00) – Marseille 2-1 Olympiacos (Stade Vélodrome, Marseille)
9th December 2020 (20:00) – Manchester City v Marseille (City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester)
9th December 2020 (20:00) – Olympiacos v Porto (Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus)
All of the above times are GMT (UK time).
Last Updated on December 31, 2020 by Sports Tourist
