Greek club Aris Thessaloniki was left red-faced after a spoof photo of the City squad was published in their programme featuring a number of stars like Ronaldo, Messi and Rooney.

The mocked-up City squad contained 80 players, most added digitally, including Wayne Rooney, Lionel Messi and, bizarrely, the 'Where's Wally?' character.

The mix-up occurred after Aris's editorial team, searching the internet for a City team photo, happened upon a mocked-up version shown on the Guardian's website, poking fun at City's sizeable ambitions in the transfer market (showing the likes of Messi, Rooney et al in the City soccer shirts), and believed it was the real squad.

Although City's delegation saw the funny side, embarrassed Aris directors withdrew the programme before it could go on general sale. The club's press officer merely said there had been a "big problem".

A small number of programmes found their way into fans' hands, and are retailing on auction side eBay at over £50.