Pep Guardiola’s men want to keep the name they won in Istanbul last June.
PARIS: Defending champions Manchester City were drawn by FC Copenhagen in today’s draw for the Champions League round of 16, with last season’s runners-up Inter Milan taking on Atletico Madrid in the most notable clash.
Pep Guardiola’s City, who are looking to retain the name they won in Istanbul last June, easily beat the Danish team, who qualified in their organization at the expense of Manchester United after beating the Red Devils 4-3. At home.
The clubs met in the Champions League last season, with City winning 5-0 at home before drawing 0-0 at the Parken Stadium.
Serie A-leaders Inter were one of the teams that after completing a moment in their organization and their meeting with Atletico will see Diego Simeone, the coach of the Spanish club, face a team with which he spent two years as a player in the late 90s.
French champions Paris St Germain, eliminated in the round of 16 in each of the last two seasons and in five of the last seven campaigns, were also bracing for a tough draw after completing a moment at their organization, Borussia Dortmund.
They will be relieved to face Real Sociedad, who improved their organisation ahead of Inter and yet are in the Champions League round of 16 for the first time since 2003/04, when they were eliminated via Lyon.
Barcelona’s meeting with Italian champions Napoli is a remarkable matchup, while Premier League leaders Arsenal are set to beat Porto and reach the quarterfinals for the first time since 2010.
“We need to check and go as far as we can, but we concentrate on betting good, performing well and playing the most productive football we can, and then we go through to see how far we can go,” Arsenal sporting director Edu said. said. said on the club’s website.
Sergio Conceicao’s Porto finished level on points with Barcelona in their group but were ranked in second place after losing both meetings with the Catalans.
Real Madrid will be highly rated against RB Leipzig, and Bayern Munich will be heavy favourites against Lazio, who they beat 6-2 on aggregate at the same level of the festival in 2020/21.
“We’ve had positive experiences with Lazio before,” said Bayern captain Manuel Neuer.
“We’ll go into the games as favourite but we won’t allow ourselves to underestimate them.”
In the clash, Dortmund will face PSV Eindhoven, coached by former Borussia coach Peter Bosz and qualified for the round of 16 for the first time in eight years.
The first legs will be played in mid-February and those in March.
This season’s Champions League final will be staged at Wembley in London on June 1.