Manchester City handed group of death for the third year in a row while Jose Mourinho will be delighted with Chelsea's draw

• City face German giants Bayern Munich for a third time in four years
• Arsenal also handed tough draw but Chelsea given easy ride
• Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard could have a surprise re-union as City are also matched with Roma
• Despite difficult draw Txiki Beguiristan says the aim is to top the group

Manuel Pellegrini must have been looking for Mario Balotelli’s ‘Why Always Me’ T-shirt on Thursday night.

Life could hardly get any worse for Manchester City in the Champions League. For the third successive season they were handed a ‘Group of Death’. There’s no sugar-coating it — Group E is gruesome, brutal, grim.

If Pellegrini was to pick one scenario he didn’t want ahead of the draw, this wouldn’t have been far off. 

His mood will not have been helped by knowing that, down in London, Jose Mourinho had his feet up, with Chelsea surely as good as in the knockout stages after being given a relatively easy ride.

For the second successive season, City will face Bayern Munich; the Bundesliga giants wounded by last season’s failed attempt to retain their title. 

Riding on the crest of Germany’s World Cup win, Pep Guardiola’s side will be one of the toughest teams to beat this season.

City’s nightmare does not end there, though. Two clashes against a rejuvenated Roma will provide a huge test of their European credentials. In an uncanny twist, Roma and City crossing paths throws open the possibility of Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole going head-to-head for the first time since they left Chelsea this summer.

Pellegrini will know the fixtures against Roma and CSKA Moscow are paramount to City making it to the last 16.

And if he thought things could not get much worse, he only needs to look at a daunting eight-day stretch next month when he must squeeze a trip to Bavaria between crucial League clashes at Arsenal and at home to Chelsea.

‘It’s a tough one,’ said City’s sporting director Txiki Beguiristan. ‘Our challenge is to be first in the group because that gives you an advantage.

‘The objective is higher now. That’s why we improved the team, to give us a chance of winning the domestic competitions but also to be better in Europe. There are five, six, eight other clubs that can win it but we can as well. Why should we not set out to win the Champions League?’

Thursday’s draw would also not have made comfortable viewing for Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

Perhaps not quite to the same extent as Pellegrini, but Wenger will yet again have to pit his wits against one of Europe’s most impressive young coaches in Jurgen Klopp.

But facing Borussia Dortmund, 2013’s beaten finalists, will not paralyse Wenger’s expensively-assembled squad with fear. After losing to the Bundesliga side on matchday three last season, the Gunners went to Dortmund and recorded a famous 1-0 win against the odds, Aaron Ramsey scoring.

Arsenal secretary David Miles said: ‘It’s tough but it’s one from which there’s a pre-requisite to finish first and avoid the likes of Barcelona at the start of the knock-out stage.’

Anderlecht and Galatasaray are likely provide a more modest test.

While Liverpool ponder the challenge of Real Madrid, Basle and the Bulgarians of Ludogorets, Mourinho must have had by far the best night’s sleep. 

When he holds his weekly press conference at Chelsea’s Cobham HQ on Friday, the Portuguese will inevitably dispel the notion that his side have been handed an easy European ride.

But the Special One himself could not have handpicked a more comfortable group. With all due respect, Schalke, Sporting Lisbon and Maribor hardly reads as a who’s who of European football’s elite.

Much to Brendan Rodgers, Pellegrini and Wenger’s annoyance, no doubt.