Real Madrid and Man City to renew rivalry, Arsenal avoid heavyweights in Champions League

Manchester City and Real Madrid will renew their familiar rivalry after being drawn together into the Champions League knockout stages for the sixth time since 2019-20 following Friday’s draw for the round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals.

The two heavyweights have already crossed swords once this campaign, with City staging a comeback to beat record 15-time European champions Real 2-1 in December’s group stage match.

“We’ve played each other in the group stage before, so it will be a really enjoyable game to watch. It’s like a final, we’re happy to go back,” City director of football Hugo Viana told UEFA.

Holders Paris Saint-Germain will face Chelsea in a repeat of last year’s Club World Cup final, in which the Premier League side won.

“We have played them a few times. They are the defending champions but people will probably refer to what happened this summer in the Club World Cup. It will be tough but that doesn’t scare us,” said Chelsea director of football David Barnard.

Arsenal play Bayer Leverkusen and the Premier League leaders avoided the tournament heavyweights after their perfect record of eight wins put them top of the league stage table.

If they progress to the quarter-finals, Arsenal will face either Sporting or Bodo/Glimt while Real Madrid, Manchester City, PSG, Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Chelsea are on the other side of the table.

Bayern Munich, second in the group stage, faces Atalanta, who eliminated German side Borussia Dortmund in the playoffs thanks to a stoppage-time penalty.

Newcastle United face Barcelona again after the Spanish side won their first match of the group stage and Liverpool were matched against Galatasaray.

Tottenham Hotspur, struggling in the Premier League, take on Atletico Madrid while Norwegian newcomers Bodo/Glimt – who have beaten City, Atletico and Inter Milan this season – take on Portugal’s Sporting Lisbon.