Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola could be headed back to one of his former employers when the draw for the play-off round of the Champions League is conducted in Nyon, Switzerland today.

City will find out who stands between them and a place in the group stage and, in what would represent one of the worst-case scenarios for Guardiola, he may have to take his new squad to Italian giants Roma, where he spent a short spell as a player over a decade ago.

Roma finished third in Serie A last season but lurk as one of the unseeded teams to be avoided in the draw, which also includes Celtic and League of Ireland surprise-packets Dundalk.

City’s potential opponents in the draw are either Roma, Monaco, Young Boys, Rostov or Steaua Bucharest.

City’s fourth-placed Premier League finish last season means they are seeded in the ‘league route’ part of the draw – alongside Porto, Ajax, Borussia Moen-chengladbach and Villarreal – which has set up the prospect of a difficult two-legged tie.

Even if City do avoid Roma they could face Monaco, who finished third in Ligue 1 last season, or the 3,800-mile round trip to Russian club Rostov in amongst the start to their Premier League campaign.

The play-off ties will take place on August 16 and 17 and August 23 and 24 with the winners earning a Champions League group stage place while the losers slip into the Europa League.

The draw for the Champions League group stage is to take place on August 25.