UCL last-16 draw: Real Madrid to face Atletico, Barcelona vs Benfica in Champions League
UCL last-16 draw: Real Madrid to face Atletico, Barcelona vs Benfica in Champions League
The Champions League got more heavyweight clashes when the draw for the round of 16 was made Friday.
Defending champion Real Madrid’s reward for ousting 2023 title winner Manchester City this week in the knockout playoffs was two city derbies against Atletico Madrid — the team it beat in the final in 2014 and 2016.
Diego Simeone is still Atletico’s coach a decade later, again facing Carlo Ancelotti who won the 2014 final. Ancelotti later took jobs across Europe before returning to Madrid and winning two more Champions League titles for a competition record five as a coach.
“It’s an amazing tie, and we are ready for it,” insisted Simeone, who was in charge of all of the past Champions League meetings between the sides.
The first-leg games will be played March 4-5, with the return games one week later.
Also in the draw, No. 2 seed Barcelona was paired with Benfica — which it beat 5-4 in Lisbon one month ago. The Catalans secured a place in the round of 16 with a thrilling 5-4 win over the Portuguese side and will hope for a similar outcome to progress to the next step.
Borussia Dortmund will play Lille.
The Madrid matchups were not possible in the old Champions League format where teams from the same country could not face each other in the round of 16.
The new tennis-style seeded bracket allows for those derbies, and for teams to reunite after already playing each other in the league phase of the competition.
