Paris: Real Madrid and Manchester City will face off in a match Champions League Defending champions Paris Saint-Germain will face Chelsea in the last 16 for the fifth consecutive season following Friday’s draw.The Spanish giants, winners of a record 15-time European title, face Manchester City at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium next month before traveling to England for a second game next week. The two clubs have already met this season, with Guardiola’s Manchester City winning 2-1 in Madrid during the league stage in December. The Premier League club is eighth and Real Madrid is ninth.This allowed Manchester City, the 2023 Champions League champions, to directly advance to the round of 16, while Real Madrid had to pass the knockout play-offs and eventually defeated Benfica 3-1 on aggregate.This is the eighth season between the two teams since 2012. Real Madrid defeated Manchester City in the knockout play-offs last season and defeated Manchester City in the quarter-finals to lift the trophy in 2024. They also won the semi-finals in 2022, with Manchester City winning at the same stage the following year.After qualifying for this stage, Paris Saint-Germain will face Chelsea at home in the first round and defeat Ligue 1 rival Monaco with a total score of 5-4 in the play-offs. Chelsea finished sixth in the league and advanced directly to the round of 16.The two sides met in the knockout stages for three consecutive years from 2014 to 2016, with Chelsea winning the first meeting in the quarter-finals, while PSG won the next two round-of-16 matches.Their last meeting was the Club World Cup final in the United States in July, when Chelsea defeated last season’s European champions 3-0.Liam Ronior has been in charge of Chelsea since January, having previously served as Strasbourg manager against Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1.– Arsenal vs Leverkusen, Newcastle vs Barcelona –The total number of English clubs reaching the last 16 reached a record high. No teams in the last 16 will play each other, but two teams could reach the All-England quarter-finals.Liverpool will face Galatasaray in a rematch in the last 16, with the Turkish giants beating the Anfield club 1-0 in the league in September.The winner of this match will face Paris Saint-Germain or Chelsea in the quarter-finals, meaning Liverpool have the chance to avenge their penalty shootout loss to the Parisians a year ago.Newcastle United, meanwhile, will face Barcelona in the first leg at St James’ Park, where the Spanish side won 2-1 in the league stages in September.Tottenham were drawn to face Atletico Madrid, with the winner of that match then facing Newcastle or Barcelona in the quarter-finals.Arsenal, who are top of the league stage, will face Bayer Leverkusen and if they win, they will face either Bodo/Glimt or Sporting CP in the quarter-finals.A meeting with Sporting Lisbon in the round of 16 is the Norwegian upstart’s reward for knocking out last season’s defeated finalists Inter Milan in the play-offs.German champions Bayern Munich will face Atalanta, the only Italian club in the competition.The first leg will be held on March 10-11, with the second leg a week later. Teams that advance directly to this stage after entering the top eight in the league stage will all play return games at home.This season’s Champions League final will be held on May 30 at the Puskas Stadium in Budapest.
