Real draw Madrid derby in Champions League; Liverpool face PSG
The Champions League has handed more heavyweight clashes when the draw for the round of 16 was made in Nyon, Switzerland.
Defending champion Real Madrid’s reward for removing 2023 title winner Manchester City on Wednesday is two city derbies against Atletico Madrid – the team it beat in the finals in 2014 and 2016.
Bayern Munich was paired with Bayer Leverkusen – the Bundesliga leader against its defending champion, who played a tight 0-0 draw just last weekend.
Liverpool were the top-seeded team in the draw after finishing first in the 36-team standings last month but still got a tough assignment as the Premier League leader was paired with number 15 seed PSG in Friday’s draw.
Liverpool and PSG have never met in knockout games in the Champions League or the old European Cup. Their previous meetings were in the group stage in 2018-19, trading home wins in a season that ended with Liverpool winning its sixth European Cup title.
Club Brugge, who got into the knockout stage in the 24th and final qualification place, will face Aston Villa, who they already beat in November. Borussia Dortmund will play Lille.
The Madrid and German matchups were not possible in the old Champions League format where teams from the same country could not face each other in the round of 16. The new tennis-style seeded bracket allows for those derbies, and for teams to reunite after already playing each other in the league phase of the competition.
The teams also learned their fate for the quarterfinals and semifinals, should they progress, with the winner of the Liverpool and PSG tie facing the victors between Villa and Brugge. The winners of the Madrid derby will face either PSV Eindhoven or Arsenal.
