Pep Guardiola faces a resumption of hostilities with Real Madrid after Manchester City were drawn against the Spanish giants in the last 16 of the Champions League, while there will be a rerun of the 2012 final when Chelsea meet Bayern Munich.
The draw was tough for the Premier League sides, with Liverpool landing a two-legged tie against Atlético Madrid. However Tottenham will be relatively satisfied after drawing RB Leipzig from the group winners.
Finishing top of their group has not done much for City’s hopes, even though they will play the second leg of their glamour tie against Madrid at home. Madrid’s enviable firepower will push City’s defence to the limit, though Guardiola’s links with Barcelona means he will not lack motivation when he comes up against the 13-times European champions.
City’s Catalan manager beat Madrid in the semi-finals when he was in charge of Barcelona in 2011 but he lost heavily to them over two legs with Bayern in 2014.
Memories of beating Bayern eight years ago will boost Chelsea when they face the Bundesliga champions. But while Frank Lampard played in that game, the Chelsea manager will know his inconsistent team will need to find form against the Germans, especially as the second leg will be played at the Allianz Arena.
Liverpool will need to be at their best to deal with Atlético, who are always hard to beat. The European champions have the second leg at Anfield but Diego Simeone’s team have a history of upsetting the odds in Europe.
Tottenham, who finished second to Bayern in their group, will be relieved to have avoided one of the heavyweights. However José Mourinho’s team cannot afford to underestimate Leipzig. Julian Nagelsman’s side are top of the Bundesliga and have an attack led by one of the best young forwards in Europe, Timo Werner.
Elsewhere Barça will face Napoli, Atalanta meet Valencia, Borussia Dortmund play Paris Saint-Germain and Lyon will take on Juventus.
Champions League last-16
Borussia Dortmund v PSG
Real Madrid v Manchester City
Atalanta v Valencia
Atlético Madrid v Liverpool
Chelsea v Bayern Munich
Lyon v Juventus
Tottenham v RB Leipzig
Napoli v Barcelona
*First legs to be played on February 18-19th and 25-26th. Second legs to be played March 10-11th and 17-18th (first named-team plays first leg at home).
- Guardian
