Champions League draw: Real Madrid vs. Man City, Atletico vs. Liverpool

Real Madrid will play Manchester City in the Champions League round of 16, and holders Liverpool will face Atletico Madrid.

The draw in Nyon, Switzerland today brought up some fascinating ties, with the heavyweight clashes between England’s and Madrid’s top clubs arguably the pick of the bunch.

In other matchups Lyon face Juventus, while Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham were drawn against Bundesliga leaders RB Leipzig and debutants Atalanta will meet Valencia and Napoli will play Barcelona.

Jurgen Klopp’s men, who beat Tottenham 2-0 in the final last season to lift the trophy for a sixth time, will return to the Wanda Metropolitano to face Atleti, while Pep Guardiola’s City face a tough test against 13-time winners Real Madrid.

City, who will be at home in the second leg, have yet to beat the Spanish side, with two draws and two defeats in their previous four meetings.

However, Guardiola has a much more encouraging record with nine wins, four draws and four defeats in 17 meetings as coach of Barcelona and then Bayern Munich.

“It’s a difficult one,” said Manchester City’s director of football, Txiki Begiristain. “Real Madrid are the best. We want to be the best, so we have to try and beat them. It’s always a pleasure to play against Real Madrid. We know them very well. They know our manager.”

Chelsea will meet Bayern Munich in a repeat of the 2012 final, when Blues boss Frank Lampard lifted the trophy as captain. Borussia Dortmund will face Paris Saint-Germain, with PSG manager Thomas Tuchel returning to face his former club.

Hasan Salihamidzic, Bayern’s sporting director, said: “Chelsea have done very well with their young players. It’s an attractive tie. We accept the challenge, of course, and want to go through.”

Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer added: “We’re excited to go to London; we have some good memories there. Chelsea are dangerous team. We need to take them seriously and with focus. Of course, we want to go through to the next round.” (ESPN)