NYON: A Madrid derby. A German classic. A rare meeting between Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain.
The Champions League got more heavyweight clashes when the draw for the round of 16 was made Friday.
Defending champion Real Madrid’s reward for ousting 2023 title winner Manchester City is two city derbies against Atletico Madrid — the team they beat in the final in 2014 and 2016.
Bayern Munich were paired with Bayer Leverkusen — the Bundesliga leader against their defending champion, who played a tight 0-0 draw just last weekend. Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso has never lost to Bayern in six games across three seasons, including three meetings this season.
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 were paired with No. 15 seed PSG.
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 their sixth European Cup title.
The first-leg games will be played March 4-5, with the return games one week later.
Also in the draw, No. 2 seed Barcelona were paired with Benfica — which they beat 5-4 in Lisbon one month ago — Arsenal will face PSV Eindhoven and Inter Milan play Feyenoord.
Feyenoord go back to San Siro, where they already eliminated AC Milan this week in the knockout playoffs round. All three Italian teams in the playoffs lost, including another exit to a Dutch team when PSV got past Juventus in extra time.
Club Brugge, which got into the knockout stage in the 24th and final qualification place, will face Aston Villa, which 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.
