Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini has blasted the rules of the UEFA Champions League draw as his side prepare to get their campaign underway next week.
City will face Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich in the group stage for the third time in four seasons, along with CSKA Moscow and Serie A side Roma in Group E.
Pellegrini feels that his side have been handed a tougher task to reach the round of 16 than Arsenal - who will face Borussia Dortmund, Galatasaray and Anderlecht - despite winning the Premier League last season, compared to the fourth-place finish of the Gunners.
He told reporters: "I don't think it's good that the teams who play qualification because they finished fourth in their domestic leagues are in pot one [top seeds], where the strongest teams should be.
"In our group we have three domestic champions, the English champions, the German champions, and the Russian champions. So our group seems a bit unbalanced.
"I think we need to find a modification whereby, for example, all teams who play qualification go into pot four, and all champions of their respective leagues and have a lot of points in Europe go into pot one."
City face Bayern at the Allianz Arena in their Group E opener on Wednesday.
Simon Sinclair
