A repeat of last season’s final was the tie that stood out from Monday’s draw at UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon, where Paris Saint-Germain were paired with Bayern Munich in another heavyweight clash. There were more favorable draws for the rest of England’s representatives in the last 16, with Manchester City facing Leipzig, Tottenham AC Milan and Chelsea facing Borussia Dortmund. This trio of Premier League sides will all be away from home in the first leg, which takes place on February 14, 15, 21 and 22, having won their respective groups. The return matches will be played three weeks later on March 7, 8, 14 and 15. Liverpool finished second in Group A and therefore received the toughest assignment of the English clubs. The last-16 tie will be the fourth time Klopp’s side have met Real in six seasons, with the Spanish club prevailing on the previous three occasions. the 2022 and 2018 finals plus the 2021 quarter-final, played behind closed doors. Vinicius Junior’s goal settled the final match in Paris, where the appalling treatment of fans by local authorities and UEFA overshadowed the European football event. “I know we’ve played Real Madrid in a few recent finals, but it’s not that often that our two clubs meet in a draw, so now we can look forward to that happening,” Klopp said. “Real’s European record is the best. We know that. But we also know ours isn’t too bad. Plus we know we have Anfield and everyone knows what that means. “It’s a very good draw. A really exciting draw. The games themselves are still a few months away, but it doesn’t take much imagination to imagine what the atmosphere will be like at both games.” City will be confident of keeping their bid for a first Champions League title alive after drawing Leipzig, who they beat 6-3 at home in the group stage last season, before losing 2-1 in Germany. Txiki Begiristain, City’s director of football, admitted that Pep Guardiola’s side “don’t like” coming up against German opposition in a box-to-box style, but noted that some favorites to win the competition will be out of the quarter-finals . Begiristain said of Leipzig: “They are growing as a club and growing as a project. This is German football – very open box-to-box play, which we don’t like very much, because we always like to be in control – so this kind of football will be difficult. We were able to win the home game, but we struggled a lot. We have to be very careful.” He added: “Some big names and big clubs are already out – some of them are not playing in Europe now because they were last in the group. It shows how difficult it is in this race. Liverpool and Real Madrid are two incredible clubs, and they were two of the favorites to win, but one will be left out. However, those who are there in the quarter-finals will deserve to be there. We want to be one of them.” Start your evenings with the Guardian’s view of the world of football Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Spurs face Italian champions AC Milan, who Antonio Conte has beaten more times in his managerial career than any other team (10 in all competitions), while Dortmund should pose a tough test for Graham Potter in the first Chelsea manager’s Champions League campaign. In the remaining matches, Club Brugge vs. Benfica, Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Napoli and Internazionale vs. Porto.
