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Man City face Juventus in Europa League |
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Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini will return to his native Italy after the club were placed in the same group as Juventus in Friday's Europa League draw.
The ceremony, which took place in Monaco ahead of the European Super Cup, pitted big-spending City against Juventus, who finished seventh in Serie A last season. The Old Lady of Italian football recently signed Alberto Aquilani on loan from Liverpool and have also recruited Serbian winger Milos Krasic, who was linked with a move to Eastlands.
The other two teams in Group A are Austrian club Salzburg and Lech Poznan of Poland. City qualified for the group stages of the competition following a 3-0 aggregate win over Timisoara.
Meanwhile, Liverpool were handed a tricky draw in Group K, where they will face Steaua Bucharest, Napoli and Utrecht. The Italian club, who signed Andrea Dossena from Liverpool in January, were one of the toughest sides in Pot Three.
Liverpool played Steaua in the UEFA Cup in the 2003-04 season, drawing 1-1 in Romania thanks to a goal from Djimi Traore and winning the return leg of the second-round tie 1-0, with Harry Kewell scoring the only goal of the game. Only captain Steven Gerrard remains from the squad that contested the second leg.
Other notable aspects of the draw include a clash between reigning champions Atletico Madrid and Michael Ballack's Bayer Leverkusen in Group B, Sevilla, Paris Saint Germain and Borussia Dortmund meeting in Group J and Ricardo Quaresma returning to Porto with Besiktas in Group L.
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