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Real Madrid draw Manchester City again, Arsenal ⁠avoid heavyweights in Champions League last 16
A view of draw for round of 16 at the Uefa Champions League at their headquarters, Nyon, Switzerland February 27, 2026. — Reuters pic
  • Man City and Real Madrid renew rivalry in Champions League
  • PSG to face Chelsea in repeat of Club World Cup final
  • Arsenal avoid heavyweights, face Bayer Leverkusen in last 16

NYON (Switzerland), Feb 27 — Manchester City and Real Madrid will renew their familiar rivalry after being drawn together in the Champions League knockout phase for the sixth time since 2019-20 following Friday’s draw for the last 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals.

The two heavyweights have already crossed swords once this campaign, with City mounting a comeback to beat record 15-times European champions Real 2-1 in December’s group stage match.

“We played against each other already in the group phase, so it’ll be a really nice game to watch. It’s like a final, we are happy to go there again,” City’s director of football Hugo Viana told Uefa.

Holders Paris St Germain will face Chelsea in a repeat of last year’s ill-tempered Club World Cup final in which the Premier League side came out on top.

“We’ve played them quite a few times. They are the reigning champions but people will probably refer to what happened in the summer at the Club ⁠World Cup. It’ll be tough but it holds ⁠no fear for us,” Chelsea’s director of football David Barnard said.

General view of the balls before the Uefa Champions League draw for round of 16 at their headquarters, Nyon, Switzerland February 27, 2026. — Reuters pic

Arsenal ⁠avoid heavyweights in draw

Arsenal play Bayer ⁠Leverkusen and the Premier ⁠League leaders have avoided the tournament’s heavyweights after their perfect record of eight wins put them top of the standings in the league phase.

Should they qualify for the quarter-finals, Arsenal will play ⁠either Sporting or Bodo/Glimt while Real Madrid, Manchester City, PSG, Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Chelsea are on the other side of the draw. Bayern Munich, who were second in the group stage, play Atalanta, who knocked out German side Borussia Dortmund in the playoffs thanks to a stoppage-time penalty.

Newcastle United face Barcelona again after the Spanish side won their group stage opener and ⁠Liverpool were paired with Galatasaray.

Premier League strugglers Tottenham Hotspur face Atletico Madrid while Norwegian upstarts Bodo/Glimt — who have beaten City, Atletico and Inter Milan this season — take on ⁠Portugal’s Sporting Lisbon.

Last-16 draw

Real Madrid v Manchester City

Bodo/Glimt v Sporting

Paris St Germain v Chelsea

Newcastle United v Barcelona

Galatasaray ⁠v Liverpool

Atletico ⁠Madrid v Tottenham Hotspur

Atalanta v Bayern Munich

Bayer Leverkusen v Arsenal

Quarter-finals

QF1: PSG/Chelsea v Galatasaray/Liverpool

QF2: Real Madrid/Man City v Atalanta/Bayern

QF3: Newcastle/Barcelona v Atletico/Tottenham

QF4: Bodo/Sporting v Leverkusen/Arsenal

Semi-finals

Semi-final 1: QF1 winners v QF2 winners

Semi-final 2: QF3 winners v QF4 winners

First and second leg dates

Last 16: March 10-11 and March 17-18

Quarter-finals: April 7-8 and April 14-15

Semi-finals: April 28-29 and May 5-6

Final: May 30 in Budapest’s Puskas Arena — Reuters

 

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