Analysis of Barça's rivals in the Champions League group stage

FC Barcelona will commence the 2016/17 Champions League group phase against three teams that nobody wanted to face in this Thursday's draw: Manchester City, Borussia Monchengladbach and Celtic.

Luck has not at all favoured Luis Enrique's side, who will have to work hard in the competition to reach their objective of topping the group, and thereby enjoying the advantage of playing the return leg at home in the last 16.

We analyse FC Barcelona's three opponents:

MANCHESTER CITY FC

The Premier League side's biggest new face is on the bench, in the shape of Pep Guardiola, former Barça boss between 2008 and 2012. The coach from Santpedor returns to the Camp Nou with the 'Citizens', just as he did when in charge of Bayern Munich, between the years of 2013 and 2016.

The other fresh faces at the Etihad Stadium are on the pitch. Nine players have joined this summer, the most recent arriving from the Camp Nou, in Claudio Bravo, subject of an 18 million euros transfer. 

Also coming into the English club have been Ilkay Gundogan, Nolito, Aaron Mooy, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Leroy Sane, Marlos Moreno, John Stones and Gabriel Jesus, though the Brazilian will arrive in the winter window.

Barça will not be facing the City side of recent seasons. With Guardiola at the helm, the English outfit will try to have greater ball possession and elaborate their moves more. In any case, the advantage that Luis Enrique's team could have over Pep's, is experience. In this sense, City are at a formative stage, whereas Barça are a fully developed side, with the required players to execute their style of play.

Guardiola's new team does, however, have talented players such as David Silva, Kevin de Bruyne, Sergio Aguero, Samir Nasri and Fernandinho. They also can call upon another profile of player, with battling and committed players such as Vincent Kompany, Pablo Zabaleta, Wilfred Bony, Yaya Toure, Bacary Sagna, Eliaquim Mangala and Nicolas Otamendi.

The drama is served. With Guardiola and Bravo, who curiously never played a Champions League game during his time at FC Barcelona.

In terms of precedents, Barça and City have faced each other twice in official two-legged ties, both times in the last 16 of the Champions League, and the Catalan club won all four games.

BORUSSIA MONCHENGLADBACH

The German outfit, that finished fourth in the 2015/16 Bundesliga, has entered the Champions League group stage after eliminating Swiss team Young Boys with an aggregate score of 9-2. 

Manager Andre Schubert has been in the role since September 2015, when he took over from Lucien Favre, having previously been the youth team coach. He has not managed other big clubs, though has had stints at St. Pauli and as the German under-15 national team coach.

The Bundesliga side have strengthened this season with Christoph Kramer, Jannik Vestergaard and Tobias Strobl. They have players in the squad with a low international profile, but that form a tough team that stands out for its solidity. They employ a 3-2-3-2 formation and like to play down the flanks. In attack, their trident of Lars Stindl, Thorgan Hazard and Raffael is always a threat.

Another strong point of the team is in goal, with the presence of Switzerland international Yann Sommer. The defence is very young, but can call upon players with great promise.

There are no previous encounters between Barça and Monchengladbach in Europe, though Blaugrana fans will remember the Germans for Udo Lattek, former Barcelona manager. Allan Simonsen, Robert Enke and Marc-Andre Ter Stegen were all players that donned the shirts of both clubs.  

CELTIC

The Scottish team was the final side to be drawn in to Barça's group. The Blaugrana are well aware of them. This summer, for example, they faced each other in Dublin, a pre-season friendly that the Catalans won 3-1.

'The Bhoys' are coached by Brendan Rodgers this year. A man with experience, having been in charge of Swansea between 2010 and 2012, and Liverpool between 2012 and 2015.

In Celtic's squad, the likes of keeper Craig Gordon, centre-backs Efe Ambrose, left-back Emilio Izaguirre, midfielders Nor Bitton, Scott Brown (the captain) and James Forrest stand out. In attack, they call upon Leigh Griffiths, the player that notched against Barça in pre-season, and Frenchman Moussa Dembele.

They play a simple, direct style, and, on paper, appear to be the weakest team in the group. They reached the group phase after knocking out Hapoel Beer Sheva in the play-offs.