Manchester City vs Real Madrid headlines Champions League knockout playoffs; Bayern Munich to face Celtic
Manchester City and Real Madrid, the winners of the last two editions of the UEFA Champions League, will square off in the knockout playoffs round.
Manchester City and Real Madrid, the winners of the last two editions of the UEFA Champions League, will square off in the knockout playoffs round after the draw was announced on Friday. The 2023 champions, Manchester City, will host the first leg on February 11 (February 12, India time), while the 2024 winners, Real Madrid, will host the second leg on February 18 (February 19).
It is important to state that the winner over the two legs progresses to the round of 16. The winner will take on either Atletico Madrid or Bayer Leverkusen, who are placed in the top eight of the new 36-team league standings.
This is the fourth consecutive time that Manchester City and Real Madrid have been pitted against each other in the Champions League knockout tie.
For the uninitiated, the Champions League format was recently changed, and the teams that finished from Nos. 9 to 24 in the standings dropped into the two-leg knockout playoffs round.
Real Madrid finished 11th, while Manchester City barely qualified in 22nd. As soon as Manchester City finished at this spot, Pep Guardiola and co knew that they would have to face either No. 11 Madrid or No. 12 Bayern Munich.
Bayern Munich will take on the 21st-placed Celtic in the knockout playoffs.
'Round of 16' pairing on February 21
UEFA will announce the Round of 16 pairing on February 21. The new knockout bracket allows teams from the same country to face each other before the quarterfinals, which was not possible in the past two decades.
Paris-Saint German will take on French rival Brest, while Monaco will take on Benfica.
Full set of Champions League playoff fixtures:
Club Brugge vs Atalanta
Sporting vs Borussia Dortmund
Manchester City vs Real Madrid
Celtic vs Bayern Munich
Juventus vs PSV Eindhoven
Feyenoord vs AC Milan
Brest vs Paris St Germain
AS Monaco vs Benfica