For the third season in a row, Real Madrid and Liverpool will meet in the Champions League knockout rounds.
Real have had gotten the better of the Reds in their recent meetings, including in last year’s final. And with Liverpool lacking in form this season, Los Blancos may just break Liverpudlian hearts once again.
Meanwhile, there’s another Champions League final rematch in the round of 16 as Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich – who contested the 2020 final, which Bayern won – meet once again.
Read on below as SBOTOP breaks down the Champions League round of 16 draw, complete with key matchups, top storylines, and other interesting tidbits.
AC Milan vs Tottenham Hotspur
Antonio Conte will lead his Tottenham side against Italian champions AC Milan.
Conte will be well familiar with Milan from his days coaching Juventus and Milan’s main city rivals, Inter. Recent Serie A imports Dejan Kulusevski, Rodrigo Bentancur, and Ivan Perisic will also know what to expect.
On the other side, Olivier Giroud has much experience taking on Tottenham. He has faced Spurs 18 times during his career and will be keen to outshine Spurs talisman Harry Kane.
Paris Saint-Germain vs Bayern Munich
The Champions League 2022 odds have both PSG and Bayern Munich among the favourites to win the title, but one top contender is sure to crash out early.
This will be the third time in four years that Bayern and PSG will meet in the knockout rounds. Bayern famously beat PSG in the 2020 final thanks to a goal from former PSG youngster Kingsley Coman, although the Parisians got their revenge the following season by beating Bayern in the quarter-finals.
PSG’s much-improved defence has been among the best in Europe this season, but it will be put to the ultimate test against Bayern, who have scored 41 goals in just 13 Bundesliga games and 18 goals in six Champions League group games.
Club Brugge vs Benfica
Benfica’s big 6-1 win over Maccabi Haifa – which saw them top Group H over PSG – paid off in a big way as they drew arguably the weakest team left in the competition, Club Brugge.
Benfica are still unbeaten this season and could emerge as this season’s dark horses. But they must not overlook the Belgian giants Brugge, who have finally made it to the Champions League knockout round for the first time on the back of some outstanding performances from veteran keeper Simon Mignolet.
Borussia Dortmund vs Chelsea
Christian Pulisic and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are set to meet their old club as Chelsea drew Borussia Dortmund.
Neither Pulisic nor Aubameyang is in particularly good form at the moment, though, as the Blues’ new manager bounce under Graham Potter has begun to wane.
As for Dortmund, they will be led by their budding English superstar Jude Bellingham, who has been fantastic in the Champions League this season with four goals in five games.
Liverpool vs Real Madrid
Liverpool and Real Madrid are about to go at it again. The two European giants will meet for the third year running and the fourth time in six seasons in the knockout rounds.
But the Reds have yet to get one over on Los Blancos, who have gone undefeated in each of their last six matches, including a couple of Champions League finals.
Liverpool no longer look like the force they once were and are languishing in midtable in the Premier League, but the Reds have still been able to raise their game in the Champions League. Mohamed Salah is the tournament’s co-leading scorer with seven goals and will be looking to outduel Real’s rising star, Vinicius Jr.
Eintracht Frankfurt vs Napoli
Napoli were one of the biggest surprises of the Champions League group stage as they topped Group A despite suffering a 2-0 defeat to Liverpool in their last game.
Luciano Spalletti’s side – led by the brilliant Kvitcha Kvaratskhelia – were the highest scorers in the group stage with 20 goals, and they will be looking to secure safe passage to the quarter-finals as they face reigning Europa League champions Eintracht Frankfurt.
The Eagles were tied with Club Brugge as the lowest-scoring side to progress to the round of 16 with just seven goals. But they do have a capable goalscorer in Daichi Kamada, who has already scored 12 goals this season.
RB Leipzig vs Manchester City
Man City and RB Leipzig meet again after they squared off in the group stage last season. City smashed Leipzig 6-3 in Manchester, but the Red Bulls got their revenge with a 2-1 win in the reverse fixture.
Erling Haaland had a fantastic record against the Red Bulls during his time in the Bundesliga. The big Norwegian scored six goals in just four games against Leipzig and will be out to deliver more Champions League 2022 highlights over the two legs.
Inter Milan vs Porto
Former team-mates collide as Simone Inzaghi leads his Inter side against Sergio Conceicao’s Porto. The two were part of Lazio’s Scudetto-winning side in 1999-2000. Conceicao went on to leave that summer and also wound up playing a couple of seasons for Inter.
Inter qualified despite top striker Lautaro Martinez scoring just once in six Champions League appearances. He and Romelu Lukaku will need to be on their best to overcome Porto’s prolific strike partnership of Mehdi Taremi and Evanilson, who have already scored 19 goals in all competitions, including six in the Champions League.
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