I second that opinion! I usually get a bearable group stage though, but always seem to draw a monster in the first knockout. In my first season at United I drew Real Madrid after finishing top of my group, second season Barca after finishing second, and my current season finished top and drew Bayern Munich who have built a good side by 2015 on my game. Everyone who finished second got easy draws (City vs Galatasaray for example) since just about every top seeded side came second in their group.
Only managed to get through against Real Madrid (although the Bayern game was decided by a referee mistake, which also seems annoyingly common).