Real Madrid will play Liverpool, again. Bayern Munich will play Paris Saint-Germain, again.
Two rematches of recent Champions League finals were set up on Monday by the draw for the round-of-16 as some of Europe’s top heavyweights were paired together.
Madrid beat Liverpool in the 2018 and 2022 finals, to extend their competition record to 14 titles, and Bayern beat PSG in 2020 to become European champions for the sixth time.
For de - fending champions Madrid, having a difficult path to the title is nothing new. The Spanish team’s remarkable run last season saw them knock out PSG, Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool to lift the trophy.
PSG being paired with Bayern meant a blockbuster draw at this stage for the French champions as well. PSG’s quest for a first European title was ended in March by Karim Benzema’s stunning late hattrick in the second leg in Madrid.
The tough draw was made possible because PSG finished second behind Benfica in their group after the Portuguese club scored a crucial stoppage-time goal in a 6-1 win last week at Maccabi Haifa.
PSG sports director Luis Campos dismissed a suggestion the club was made to pay dearly for last week’s results.
After playing out a 2-1 victory at Juventus, PSG players said they had not realised that the group win was at risk from Benfica’s late surge in Israel.
“It’s really motivating for us to play this match. (against Bayern),” Campos said at the draw.
“It’s a great opportunity to take revenge, many players played the (2020) final against Bayern.”
Lionel Messi is one PSG player who did not play in the final two years ago. Then with Barcelona, Messi was on the receiving end of Bayern’s 8-2 rout in the single-leg quarter-finals, which was the last time he faced the German champions.
Benfica were rewarded with a pairing against Club Brugge, the 15th-ranked of the 16 teams in the draw. The lowest-rated team, AC Milan, will be at home against Tottenham in the first leg in their return to the Champions League knockout rounds after a nine-year gap.
Manchester City were paired with Leipzig, and Chelsea were drawn to face Borussia Dortmund in Premier League versus Bundesliga clashes. Napoli will play Eintracht Frankfurt and Inter Milan are at home first against Porto.
