UEFA champions league defending champion, Real Madrid, hopes of lifting the trophy back-to-back now hanging in the balance after drawing English football giant, Manchester City, for a spot in the round of 16 of the competition.
Manchester City, who escaped elimination during the last game of the new champions league format, have 11 days to adjust its formation towards stopping the last season’s winner from progressing from the play-offs to the knockout stage of the tournament.
Another major clash during the play-off will be between the Scottish football giant, Celtic, and the German record champion, Bayern Munich, who would be seeking to play at the tournament final scheduled to be hosted inside its stadium, The Allianz Arena, in Munich, Bavaria.
During the draw completed on Friday, City, the 2023 Champions League winners, will host Madrid at Etihad Stadium on 11 or 12 February before travelling to Spain for the second leg the following week.
Celtic, winners in 1967 edition, will face Bayern Munich at Celtic Park before the Bundesliga club host Brendan Rodgers’ side at Allianz Arena in the second leg.
Other fixtures include the tournament surprise debutant, Brest, who would be seeking to progress during the encounter against a fellow French team, Paris St-Germain
Also, Belgian club, Club Brugge, who qualified despite losing their last game against Manchester City, will face Italian club and last season’s Europa league winner, Atalanta.
Former winner, Juventus, will challenge Dutch football club, PSV Eindhoven, while its Neighbour, AC Milan drew another Dutch team, Feyenoord, for slot in the knockout stage of the annual tournament in Europe.
Another French club, Monaco, will have to outplay Benfica, their Portuguese opponent, while Sporting Lisbon face German team, Borussia Dortmund, for the knockout stage position.
Clubs that finished in the top eight of the 36-team Champions League group table progressed directly to the last 16. The teams in the bottom eight were eliminated.
The remaining 16 teams that finished between ninth and 24th place progressed into the play-offs.
Of those 16 teams, the clubs that finished ninth to 16th in the league phase were seeded into four pairs for the play-off draw.
Those that finished from 17th to 24th were put into four unseeded pairs with the less favoured teams drawn against one of two seeded teams, with seeded teams hosting the second leg of the play-off as they finished higher in the first phase table.
