NYON, Switzerland — In a highly anticipated matchup, Real Madrid is set to go up against Manchester City in the Champions League knockout playoffs, marking a showdown between the previous two titleholders. This thrilling draw occurred on Friday.
The first leg of the tie will take place at Manchester City’s home ground on either February 11 or 12, while the second leg is scheduled for February 18 or 19 in Madrid. Real Madrid, who secured their record-extending 15th European title last season, will be aiming to continue their success.
The victorious team from this two-legged tie will progress to the round of 16, where they will face either Atletico Madrid or Bayer Leverkusen. Both clubs placed in the top eight of the new league standings featuring 36 teams, finalized on Wednesday. Teams finishing in positions 9 through 24 will compete in the two-leg knockout playoffs. Real Madrid ended up in the 11th position, while Manchester City barely qualified in 22nd place after defeating Club Brugge 3-1 in a critical match.
Knowing that finishing 22nd meant potentially facing either 11th-placed Madrid or 12th-placed Bayern Munich, Manchester City found themselves drawn against Madrid. Bayern Munich will face 21st-ranked Celtic instead. The seedings based on the standings revealed that the winner of the Madrid vs. City duel will next be drawn against either 5th-place Atletico or 6th-place Leverkusen. UEFA is set to announce the round of 16 matchups on February 21.
This new tournament structure introduces a tennis-style knockout bracket that allows teams from the same nation to compete against each other ahead of the quarterfinals—a change from the past two decades where such matchups were not permitted until later in the knockout stage.
Additionally, Paris Saint-Germain has been drawn to compete against their French rival Brest, a match they will also play in Ligue 1 the following Saturday. Monaco will take on Benfica in another tie.
Pairings for national derbies were managed to avoid direct clashes; hence, AC Milan will meet Feyenoord while Juventus takes on PSV Eindhoven. Other notable matches include Club Brugge facing Atalanta and Sporting Lisbon going against Borussia Dortmund.
Teams eagerly waiting for their round of 16 opportunities in March include Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter Milan, Atletico, Leverkusen, Lille, and Aston Villa.
