Manchester City 2-1 to retain Champions League title

Manchester City are 2-1 to be crowned European champions for the second season running after landing a plum draw in Thursday's group-stage draw.

The Citizens will face RB Leipzig, who they beat 8-1 on aggregate in last season's round of 16, Red Star Belgrade and Swiss champions Young Boys in Group G.

If City's draw was favourable, Newcastle's was anything but as they prepare to embark on their first group-stage campaign in 20 years.

The Toon will face European powerhouses Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund and Milan in Group F and are 25-1 for European glory.

England captain Harry Kane will make a quick return to English shores with his new club Bayern Munich, who were drawn alongside Manchester United - a reported summer suitor of Kane - in Group A. Copenhagen and Galatasaray complete the section.

Bayern are 11-2 second favourites behind Manchester City to win the competition while United, who dramatically beat Bayern in the 1999 Champions League final, are 20-1 to be crowned champions of Europe for a fourth time at Wembley on June 1 next year.

Only City, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid are shorter in the outright betting than 10-1 Arsenal, who will take on Europa League winners Sevilla, Lens and PSV Eindhoven, who beat Rangers to a place in the group stage this week, in Group B.

The Gunners are 3-1 to be the further progressing Premier League team with bet365, behind City at 4-9. United are an 8-1 chance to be the last Premier League club standing while 14-1 quotes about Newcastle reflect their incredibly tough draw.

Celtic are 200-1 shots for Champions League glory after being drawn in Group E alongside Dutch champions Feyenoord, Atletico Madrid and Lazio.

Erling Haaland topped the Champions League scoring charts last season with 12 goals and it is no surprise to see the City superstar quoted at just 6-5 to repeat the feat given the European champions' favourable draw.

Haaland scored five of his dozen European goals in a 7-0 last-16 second-leg rout of this season's group foes Leipzig.

Kylian Mbappe is next in at 4-1, although he is unlikely to get as many chances as Haaland to rack up an early lead given the stark difference in PSG's group challenge to that of City, while Kane is a 9-2 chance.

Sign up to emails from Racing Post Sport and get all the latest news and tips

Today's top sports betting stories

Follow us on Twitter @racingpostsport