Group F: Manchester City, Shakhtar, Lyon, Hoffenheim
Manchester City coasted through last season’s Champions League group stage and topped the group with a game to spare. Pep Guardiola’s side finished on fifteen points with a goal difference of nine, as City look to repeat last season’s comfortable run to the last sixteen. Although Man City’s opponents are unlikely to push them and challenge for the top spot, they do still carry a threat in their own regard.
Shakhtar Donetsk inflicted Pep Guardiola’s first competitive loss in the 2017/18 campaign, as City lost 2-1 away in Ukraine. The trickery of players such as Bernard, Marlos, and Taison proved too much for their opponent’s inexperienced defence, with the changed formation and the introduction of several youngsters contributing to their defeat.
French outfit Lyon have players who can hurt Manchester City, with dangerous attacking threats in the form of Nabil Fekir, Memphis Depay and Bertrand Traore, all of whom are very familiar to fans across England. Depay and Traore moved from Manchester United and Chelsea in search of game time and a chance to revive their young careers.
Nabil Fekir, on the other hand, looked to have signed for Liverpool in this summer’s transfer window, after two clubs agreed on a fee and gave Fekir the green light. The move broke down due to the discovery of a persistent knee injury, leaving the French international’s dream in tatters.
Hoffenheim could well find themselves in the Europa League after Christmas but have a fighting chance thanks to manager Julian Negelsmann, who led the German side to third place in the Bundesliga.