Right here we go once more.
Actual Madrid and Manchester Metropolis have been pitted towards each other in Friday’s draw for the Champions League playoff spherical, marking the fourth consecutive season the heavyweights will meet within the knockout phases of Europe’s premier membership competitors.
It is also a matchup between the final two Champions League winners.
Pep Guardiola’s males, who prevented elimination within the inaugural league section by profitable on Matchday 8 and leaping to twenty second within the desk, knew going into Friday’s draw that they’d be paired with both Madrid or Bayern Munich.
“In two weeks can be higher than we’re (now),” Guardiola mentioned after Metropolis narrowly escaped a humbling exit by beating Membership Brugge this week. “In opposition to these two giants, one among them we’re going to play, we’ll see how we arrive. … Typically it’s not possible at this time, however tomorrow the mindset, the vibes change.”
In the long run, they have been handed a well-known opponent with the file 15-time champions, who knocked Man Metropolis out of final season’s competitors with a shootout victory within the quarterfinals.
Bayern, in the meantime, have been paired with Scottish champions Celtic, who’re again within the knockout stage of the Champions League for the primary time in 12 years.
The playoff spherical options the groups that completed between ninth and twenty fourth place within the opening stage of the revamped event. Here is how the draw unfolded in full:
- Brest vs. Paris Saint-Germain
- Membership Brugge vs. Atalanta
- Manchester Metropolis vs. Actual Madrid
- Juventus vs. PSV Eindhoven
- Monaco vs. Benfica
- Sporting CP vs. Borussia Dortmund
- Celtic vs. Bayern Munich
- Feyenoord vs. AC Milan
The primary legs of the knockout playoffs can be performed on Feb. 11 and 12, with the return fixtures slated for the next week, on Feb. 18 and 19.
Friday’s draw additionally helped make clear the trail every of the 24 groups remaining within the competitors will take to achieve this season’s last.
The eight winners of the playoff matchups can be drawn towards the eight highest-placed sides from the league section after the latter earned computerized berths to the spherical of 16. Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Lille, and Aston Villa have the luxurious of sitting again and watching the knockout playoffs unfold earlier than returning to motion.
The street to Munich mapped out 🏆#UCLdraw pic.twitter.com/BbVxl80dhD
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) January 31, 2025
That draw, which is able to crystallize the complete knockout bracket, will happen Feb. 21, two days after the playoff spherical is full.
This season’s Champions League last takes place on the Allianz Area on Might 31.
