Manchester City and Real Madrid will lock horns in the Round of 16 playoff as the draw was completed on Friday, January 31. Sporting Lisbon will square off against Borussia Dortmund, while Celtic will welcome Bayern Munich in the other marquee fixtures in the playoff round of the Champions League.

City vs Madrid has become somewhat of an annual affair in the competition, as they have faced in the knockout phases of the competition over the past 3 seasons. Last year, Carlo Ancelotti’s side knocked out Pep Guardiola’s men in the quarterfinals, while the 203-24 campaign saw City beat Real Madrid in the semi-finals. The 2021-22 campaign saw Los Blancos complete one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the competition as they knocked out City to head to the final.

Incidentally, the team that won this fixture in the last 3 seasons has gone on to win the Champions League trophy. The other fixtures in the playoff round will see Club Brugge take on Atalanta, while Juventus welcome PSV Eindhoven to their home.

Feyenoord will play hosts to AC Milan in the first leg of the competition, while an all-French affair will see Brest take on Paris Saint-Germain. AS Monaco vs Benfica rounds off the playoff matches. Liverpool, Barcelona, Aston Villa, Arsenal, Inter Milan, LOSC Lille, Bayer Leverkusen and Atletico Madrid are the teams who have made it to the Round of 16 directly after finishing in the top 8 spots of the brand new format of the UEFA Champions League.

The first leg of the playoff phase will be played on February 11 and 12, while the second one will be a week later on 18 and 19.

PLAYOFFS

Club Brugge v Atalanta

Sporting v Borussia Dortmund

Manchester City v Real Madrid

Celtic v Bayern Munich

Juventus v PSV Eindhoven

Feyenoord v AC Milan

Brest v Paris St Germain

AS Monaco v Benfica