Why Do Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City Get Easy Opponents in Champions League Round 16 With FC Copenhagen As New Rivals?

The draw for the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 has been released. In an exciting fresh development, Pep Guardiola‘s Manchester City, the reigning champions, will be facing off against the Danish side FC Copenhagen. This draw continues Manchester City’s trend of encountering relatively undemanding opponents in a Round of 16 fixture.

FC Copenhagen, along with PSG, is one team that qualified for this stage with the fewest points (8). Notably, the PL side in the past has consistently drawn seemingly easy opponents in the Round of 16. One may wonder what is happening here.

Why does Pep Guardiola always get easy opponents?

Well, the answer to this is simple. The draw for the UEFA Champions League is a random event that is outside anyone’s control, and Manchester City is just benefiting from luck. Another factor is that Pep Guardiola’s side has often finished at the top of their group. It significantly increases their chances of encountering a comparatively weaker opponent.

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Looking back at the 2016/17 season, City finished second in their group and was pitted against French side AS Monaco in the Round of 16. While much might argue that this was an easy draw too, AS Monaco was in an exceptional form that season. They won the Ligue 1 title and also defeated City on away goals.

Also, in the 2019/20 season, Manchester City finished at the top of their group, yet faced the mighty Real Madrid. It shows that Pep Guardiola’s side drawing an easy opponent can only be attributed to their fortunate luck.

Manchester City’s long history of drawing easy opponents

Now, let’s take a look at how this saying of Manchester City always getting easy opponents started ever since Pep Guardiola became the team manager in 2016. In the 2015/16 season, the Citizens faced Ukrainian side Dynamo Kyiv and secured a convincing 3-0 victory.

Then, in the 2017/18 season, Manchester City was drawn to face Swiss side Basel FC and again emerged victorious with a 5-2 scoreline. The trend continued in the 2018/19 season when Manchester City faced FC Schalke. There’s no doubt about the German side’s rich history, but they have experienced a decline in form in recent years.

Pep Guardiola’s men demonstrated their superior form as they thrashed Schalke 10-2. Moving on to the 2020/21 season, Manchester City’s Round of 16 opponent was Borussia Mönchengladbach. This match proved no different, with The Sky Blues securing a comfortable 4-0 victory.

Furthermore, in the 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons, Manchester City faced Sporting and RB Leipzig, respectively. In both instances, City recorded resounding victories of 5-0 and 8-1. And with their next draw being FC Copenhagen, the pattern has become increasingly difficult to ignore.

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