Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City got a relatively easy tie as the Uefa Champions League group phase play-offs were drawn in Nyon on Friday.
City, who finished fourth in the Premier League last season, take on Bulgarian side Steaua Bucharest.
Guardiola and City may have been dealt a kind draw, but there are a number of ties which should be competitive in the final play-off round.
Dutch Eredivisie runners-up, Ajax, will face Russian Premier League runners-up FC Rostov, while Monaco, who finished third in France’s Ligue 1 take on Villarreal, the club that finished fourth in Spain’s Primera Liga.
Arguably the tie of the round sees Porto, the 2004 champions, face Italian club Roma, who placed third in Serie A last season.
The play-offs are contested over two legs on August 16/17 and 23/24 with the winners going into the Champions League groups phase.
FULL DRAW:
Champions route:
Ludogorets v Viktoria Plzen
Celtic v Hapoel Beer-Sheva
Copenhagen v Apoel
Dundalk v Legia Warsaw
Dinamo Zagreb v Salzburg
Non-champions route:
Steaua Bucharest v Manchester City
Porto v Roma
Ajax v Rostov
Young Boys v Borussia Monchengladbach
Villarreal v Monaco
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