Three English teams draw German opponents
One of the fiercest international rivalries in football will play out three times in the last 16 of the Champions League when a trio of English teams take on German opposition.
Five-time European champions Liverpool and Bayern Munich were drawn yesterday to face each other, Manchester City were paired with Schalke and Tottenham will play Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund.
Also, three-time defending champions Real Madrid will first play at Ajax, while Barcelona were drawn with Lyon.
In other matches, Manchester United face French leaders Paris Saint-germain, Juventus take on Atletico Madrid and Porto play Roma.
The draw included nine former champions with a combined 40 of the 63 Champions League or European Cup titles since the competition began in 1955. Real Madrid and Ajax have 17 of those titles, though those two storied clubs have never met in a final.
The potential first-time winners include Paris Saintgermain, who topped the toughest group ahead of Liverpool and Napoli with a tournament-high 17 goals in this year’s group stage.
Manchester City, also seeking their first title, arguably got the weakest opponents on current form. Schalke are 13th in the Bundesliga.
Months after leaving Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo will return to the city with Juventus for the first leg against Atletico. The final on June 1 will also be played at the Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid. The first legs will be played from February 12-20, with the second legs scheduled between March 5-13.
Meanwhile, five-time champion Sevilla have been drawn to face Lazio in the last 32 of the Europa League.
Sevilla, who have won all five of their titles since 2006, are in second place in Spain and Lazio are fifth in Serie A.
Arsenal landed another long trip and will play BATE Borisov in the first leg in Belarus after group matches in Azerbaijan and Ukraine. Napoli and Inter Milan will only have to cross the Italian border into neighbouring countries for games against Zurich and Rapid Vienna, respectively.
Chelsea, the 2013 champions, are at Malmo and Celtic will host Valencia in the first leg.
The first legs will be played from February 12-14, with return games scheduled from February 20-21.
The final is set for May 29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.