Man City to face Real Madrid in CL play-offs

Agency :

Spanish giants Real Madrid have been drawn against English champions Manchester City, pitting the last two winners of the Champions League (CL) against each other in a blockbuster two-leg playoff following the draw for the next round.

The defending champions from Spain struggled in their early stages of this season’s competition finishing in 11th after Wednesday’s 3-1 win at Brest. City, who beat Inter Milan in the final the year before, had to come from behind to beat Club Brugge on the final day of the League Phase to secure their passage to the knockouts in 22nd place.

Teams that finished ninth to 24th are competing in the playoffs to advance to the last 16. The draw, which was made in Nyon, Switzerland, on Friday, begins the knockout phase of the competition. The sides of the draw were already pre-determined for all the teams still in the tournament following Wednesday’s completion of the 36-team table, which was topped by Liverpool with Barcelona in second spot.

The pairings for the last 16, the stage that follows the playoffs, pits Premier League leaders Liverpool and Barca, who are currently third in the Spanish top flight, on the same side of the draw as the winners of the ties between the all-French contest between Brest vs Paris Saint-Germain, and Monaco vs Benfica.

Bayern Munich were the other team that Manchester City could have been drawn against, but the German champions now face Celtic in the next round. They remain in the same pairing with City and Real Madrid, though, and Atletico Madrid or Bayer Leverkusen await the winners of those ties.