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Liverpool handed Real Madrid rematch
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iverpool will have the chance to avenge last season's Champions League final defeat at the hands of Real Madrid after Jurgen Klopp's side was drawn on Monday to face the holder again in the last-16.
Meanwhile, the other standout tie sees Paris Saint-Germain drawn to play Bayern Munich in a repeat of the 2020 final which was won by the German club.
Liverpool won five of its six group games but missed out on top spot to Napoli after losing 4-1 when the sides met in Italy.
The Anfield club also lost the 2018 Champions League final to Real, which won its group ahead of RB Leipzig.
"The first thing that we can say about this draw is it is proper Champions League. This is a tie that speaks for itself and one that we should all be excited about," Klopp told Liverpoolfc.com.
The first leg will be at Anfield on Feb. 21, with the return at the Santiago Bernabeu on March 15.
"They are two historic teams, and the tie is going to be electric, fascinating for the fans," said Emilio Butragueno, a great former Real player who is now the director of institutional relations for the 14-time European champions.
Current domestic form suggests Real should be favorite, with Carlo Ancelotti's side unbeaten in La Liga while Liverpool is eighth in the Premier League despite winning away to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
However, both clubs will lose key players to the World Cup, and Butragueno acknowledged much can change in the three months before the Champions League returns.
"The World Cup is going to condition the whole season. We will see how the players are when they return," he said.
PSG only missed out on topping its group because Benfica scored more away goals across all matches after the sides remarkably finished level on points, goal difference, goals scored and head-to-head.
Chelsea to play Dortmund
That left the Qatar-owned club exposed to a tough draw, a year on from its painful exit in the first knockout round at the hands of Real.
In terms of form, it could not have got tougher than Bayern, which was the only side to win all six group matches, despite being in a section with Barcelona and Inter Milan.
The 2020 final was played behind closed doors in Lisbon at the height of the pandemic, with Bayern triumphing 1-0. PSG gained revenge the following season by beating the Bavarians in the quarterfinals.
Like PSG, Manchester City has never won the trophy but is also one of the leading contenders to do so this season.
Pep Guardiola's side will be expected to dispose of Leipzig, which it faced in the group stage in 2021 and beat 6-3 at home before a 2-1 defeat in Germany, by which time it had already secured first place in the section.
Chelsea, which defeated City in the 2021 Champions League final, also drew German opposition in the shape of Borussia Dortmund, with the clubs set to meet for the very first time in a competitive game in the first leg at the Signal Iduna Park on Feb. 15.
After topping the group thanks to a last-gasp winner away to Marseille last week, Tottenham Hotspur was given a tough draw against Italian champion AC Milan.
They have met at this stage of the competition before, with Spurs winning 1-0 on aggregate in 2010/2011 thanks to a solitary goal at San Siro by Peter Crouch.
Inter will play Porto, and last season's Europa League winner Eintracht Frankfurt takes on Napoli, while Benfica's reward for winning its group is a tie against tournament outsider Club Brugge of Belgium.
The first legs of all last-16 ties will be played between Feb. 14 and 22, with the return matches all in March.
The final of this season's Champions League will be held in Istanbul on June 10.
The Turkish city was supposed to host the final in 2020 and again in 2021, only for the game to be moved on each occasion to Portugal due to the pandemic.
