Liverpool will face a familiar and formidable obstacle in the Champions League next year after the last 16 draw took place against holders Real Madrid.
Replaying last season’s final was the standout draw of Monday’s draw at Uefa headquarters in Nyon, where Paris Saint-Germain faced Bayern Munich in another heavyweight contest. There were more favorable draws for England’s other representatives in the round of 16: Manchester City meets RB Leipzig, Tottenham meets Milan and Chelsea meets Borussia Dortmund.
This trio of Premier League clubs will all be away in the first leg, played on February 14, 15, 21 and 22 after winning their respective groups. The second legs will be played three weeks later on March 7th, 8th, 14th and 15th.
Liverpool finished second in Group A, tackling the toughest task of English clubs. The round of 16 is the fourth time Klopp’s side have met Real in six seasons, with the Spanish club winning on the previous three occasions; The 2022 and 2018 finals and the 2021 quarter-finals were played behind closed doors. Vinicius Junior’s goal decided the most recent encounter in Paris, where the appalling treatment of fans by local authorities and Uefa overshadowed European football’s flagship event.
“I know we’ve played against Real Madrid in a couple of finals lately, but it’s not that often that our two clubs have met in a two-legged draw so we can look forward to that now,” said Klopp. “Real’s European record is the best there is. We know that. But we also know that ours isn’t all that bad. On top of that, we know we have Anfield and everyone knows what that means.
“It’s a really good draw. A really exciting draw. The games themselves are still a few months away, but it doesn’t take much imagination to imagine what the atmosphere at both games will be like.”
City will be confident of continuing their quest for a first Champions League title after the draw with Leipzig, whom they beat 6-3 at home in the group stage last season before ending a dead rubber 2-1 in Germany lost. City director of football Txiki Begiristain admitted that Pep Guardiola’s side “don’t like” playing against German opponents in a box-to-box style, but noted that some favorites will be eliminated for victory in the quarter-finals .
Begiristain said of Leipzig: “You are growing as a club and as a project. This is German football – a very open box-to-box game that we don’t like that much because we like to always be in control – so this kind of football becomes difficult. We were able to win the home game, but we made it very difficult for ourselves. We have to be very careful.”
He added: “Some big names and big clubs are already out – some of them are not playing in Europe now because they were last in the group. It shows how difficult it is in this competition. Liverpool and Real Madrid are two incredible clubs and they were two of the contenders to win but one will fail. But those who are in the quarterfinals will deserve to be there. We want to be one of them.”
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Spurs meet Italian champions Milan, whom Antonio Conte has defeated more than any other club in his managerial career (10 in all competitions), while Dortmund face Graham Potter in the Chelsea manager’s first Champions League campaign should.
The other duels are Club Bruges vs Benfica, Eintracht Frankfurt vs Napoli and Internazionale vs Porto.