Gossips

Liverpool to face Madrid, PSG draw Bayern in round of 16

PC: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian

Liverpool have drawn holders Real Madrid in the last 16 of the Champions League in a repeat of last season’s final.

Fourteen-time winners Real Madrid beat Liverpool 1-0 in last year’s final in Paris thanks to a goal from Vinicius Junior in the 59th minute.

Premier League champions Manchester City face German side RB Leipzig, while Tottenham play Italian giants AC Milan.

Chelsea also have German opposition in Borussia Dortmund.

Elsewhere, French champions Paris St-Germain have drawn Bayern Munich.

The last-16 first legs will take place on 14-15 and 21-22 February, with the second legs on 7-8 and 14-15 March.

A historic rivalry meets again

It is the fourth time in six seasons that six-time winners Liverpool have taken on Real Madrid in the Champions League.

Two of those occasions have been in finals, with Real Madrid winning both in 2017-18 and 2021-22.

The Spanish champions also knocked Liverpool out in the quarter-finals in the 2020-21 season.

Jurgen Klopp’s side have been in three of the last five European finals, including last season’s in Paris, and only AC Milan and Real Madrid have won the competition more times.

The organisation of the Reds’ final defeat in Paris was later described as “an abject failure” by European football’s ruling body Uefa after fans were robbed and tear-gassed outside the Stade de France and kick-off was delayed by 36 minutes.

More than 480 testimonies by supporters and journalists at the 28 May final were examined by an independent panel, which included Professor Phil Scraton, who previously led a report into the 1989 Hillsborough stadium disaster.

Full last-16 draw:

RB Leipzig v Manchester City

Club Bruges v Benfica

Liverpool v Real Madrid

AC Milan v Tottenham

Frankfurt v Napoli

Borussia Dortmund v Chelsea

Inter Milan v Porto

Paris St-Germain v Bayern Munich


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