Manchester City will enter unchartered territory when they take on Moroccan side Wydad AC and UAE outfit Al Ain in the Club World Cup group stage next summer.

It will be the first time City have faced either side in a competitive match in their history and Pep Guardiola will no doubt be doing as much research into both sides before facing them in Philadelphia and Atlanta respectively.

But there will be a familiar foe in the opposing dugout when City face the reigning Asian champions, Al Ain, at Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

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That's because former Monaco manager Leonardo Jardim took over as the club's manager last month, succeeding former Chelsea forward Hernan Crespo on a contract until the end of the showpiece tournament in the USA.

The Portuguese boss assembled one of the best attacking teams in Europe during the 2016/17 season at Monaco, and they famously knocked out Guardiola's side in the last 16 of that season's Champions League.

Jardim was the helm as the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Bernardo Silva, Fabinho, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Thomas Lemar announced their talents to the world.

Having lost 5-3 at the Etihad Stadium in the first leg, goals from Mbappe, Bakayoko and Fabinho secured a 3-1 win in the return leg as they knocked out a much fancied City side on away goals.

Monaco had already beaten Mauricio Pochettino's Tottenham earlier in the competition and they had knocked out Arsenal in the previous campaign.

Speaking after the game, Jardim told ESPN: "Against English teams we have good results. We beat Arsenal, City and Tottenham, three strong teams. Today is one of my best moments as a coach but I hope it will not be the last.

"It is difficult to play against City and not concede but we are the best attacking side in the world and I told my players if they scored three goals they would qualify.

"They believed it and played really well. Now we are very happy.''

Monaco went on to beat Borussia Dortmund in the quarter-finals to reach the semi-finals that season before they were knocked out by Juventus. They also romped to the Ligue 1 title, beating big-spending PSG by seven points.

That summer, though, Monaco's best talents were sold on and the spine of what could have become one of European football's best teams were picked apart by the continent's biggest clubs.

Mbappe joined PSG, Bakayoko moved to Chelsea, while City themselves signed Silva and left-back Benjamin Mendy. The following summer Fabinho joined Liverpool, Joao Moutinho moved to Wolves and Lemar signed for Atletico Madrid.

Later in 2018 Jardim would depart, too, and after returning for a second stint at Stade Louis II in 2019, his career has since taking him exclusively to the Arabian Gulf.

A spell in charge of Saudi club Al Hilal saw him win the Saudi Pro League and the AFC Champions League. He followed that up by winning the UAE Pro League with Shabab Al Ahli.

He finished second in the league and the cup last season when in charge of Qatari side Al-Rayyan and now he is back in the UAE with Al Ain, looking to revive their fortunes in the league and on the continent.

He will then face City again in the summer, looking to repeat his heroics of 2017. If he can get a tune out of his Al Ain side, then both City and Juventus know Jardim's side will be the team to fear in Group G of this summer's Club World Cup.