It’s Champions League war
England v Germany international rivalry brought to a head
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 Hotspur will play Bundesliga leaders Borussia Dortmund.
“It was clear it would be difficult, they are obviously a top side,” said Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, who lost the 2013 final to Bayern when coaching Dortmund. “For me, it’s nice, going to Germany.”
While Bayern are third in the Bundesliga, Liverpool lead the English Premier League. Two goals from former Bayern winger Xherdan Shaqiri lifted Liverpool to a 3-1 win on Monday over Manchester United.
“They’re the team of the hour. They’re the league leaders in England,” Bayern sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic said of Liverpool. “They play good football, they’re very physical and they’re full of energy.”
The first leg is at Anfield on February 19, with the return match in Munich on March 13.
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.
Three-time defending champions Real Madrid were paired with Ajax.
Real Madrid and Ajax have won 17 of those 63 titles but have never met in a final.
The potential first-time winners include Paris SaintGermain, who play Manchester United. The first leg is at Old Trafford on February 12.
PSG are the runaway French league leaders and won the toughest group ahead of Liverpool and Napoli, scoring a competitionhigh 17 goals.
Manchester United’s defeat at Liverpool left them in a distant sixth place and playing the kind of football under Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho that is almost unrecognisable from their traditionally fearless attacking style.
“We are obviously not playing well,” former United player Denis Irwin said at Uefa headquarters after the draw. “But we have got some fantastic players and a coach who knows how to win, and knows how to win this competition.”
In other matches, Barcelona were drawn with Lyon, Juventus will take on Atletico Madrid and Porto will play Roma. Manchester City, also seeking their first title, arguably got the weakest opponents on form. Schalke are 13th in the Bundesliga.
“I would like to play on Wednesday, but I can’t, so we have to wait for February,” said Manchester City sporting director Txiki Begiristain, noting Schalke have a three-week break coming up. Months after leaving Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo will return to the Spanish city with Juventus for the first leg against Atletico. The first legs will be played from February 12-20, with the second legs scheduled between March 5-13. Eight teams which placed third in their Champions League groups entered the Europa League draw. Napoli and Inter Milan only have to cross the border into neighbouring countries to face Zurich and Rapid Vienna, respectively. Arsenal travel to Belarus to face BATE Borisov. Chelsea, the 2013 champions, are at Malmo, while five-time champions Sevilla are first at Lazio.