Mancini's Man City set for Juventus showdown

Roberto Mancini's side, who booked their place in the group phase with a 3-0 aggregate win over Romanian side Timisoara on Thursday night, can now look forward to taking on Juve - twice European champions and three-times victors in this competition in its former guise as the Uefa Cup.

The Blues will also face Austrian champions Salzburg and Polish champions Lech Poznan in Group A.

Five-times European champions Liverpool have been drawn against 1986 European champions Steaua Bucharest in Group K, along with 1989 Uefa Cup winners Napoli and FC Utrecht, who knocked out Celtic in the play-offs during the week.

Liverpool club secretary Ian Sylvester said the club were relieved to have avoided long journeys to the Europa League opponents and confirmed he expected Roy Hodgson to look for a replacement for Javier Mascherano after the club agreed a fee with Barcelona for the Argentina midfielder.

The Argentina captain's long-awaited transfer to the Spanish club is expected to be completed in the next 24 hours after the Reds accepted a suitable bid, having rejected a £16 million offer last weekend.

Sylvester said: "Mascherano is one of the best midfielders in the world and he has decided to go, and I'm sure Roy would not want one of his best players to leave without anyone coming in.

"There's still a few days until the transfer window closes.

"We need to improve on last season domestically, there's no doubt about that, we want to get back into the Champions League.

"Seventh place means that you start in the Europa League very early on, and it causes disruption to your pre-season plan.

"We need to improve on last year and there's no secret there's a big difference in the income between the Champions League and the Europa League.

"But we would rather be in Europe than not."

Liverpool returned on Friday from their long trip to Turkey.

Sylvester said: "We don't have to travel to Ukraine or Belarus - we've just been on a four and a half hour flight - so travel-wise could be a lot worse.

"I don't know too much about Utrecht but any team that beats Celtic 4-0 must be a decent side.

"We will treat all three opponents with respect - Steaua Bucharest were top of the seeds in the second pot so that will be difficult too."

Europa League holders Atletico Madrid, who defeated Fulham in the final in May when the London club were coached by new Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson, will take on Bayer Leverkusen, Norwegian champions Rosenborg and Greek side Aris.

Swiss side Young Boys, knocked out of the Champions League by Tottenham in midweek, were drawn last into Group H alongside Stuttgart, Getafe and Motherwell's conquerors Odense.