CNN
—
Real Madrid drew against Liverpool in the Champions League Round of 16 on Monday in a rematch of last season’s final.
Los Blancos beat Liverpool 1-0 in Paris in May to win their 14th European Cup.
The 2022 final has been overshadowed by chaos outside the stadium and there has been widespread criticism of the treatment of fans by the French authorities deployed for the game in May.
Monday’s draw also pitted Paris Saint Germain against Bayern Munich.
The Parisians finished second in their group behind Benfica after the final matchday and now face the team that beat them in PSG’s only last appearance of 2020.
Elsewhere, Antonio Conte will return to Italy to take on AC Milan with his Tottenham Hotspur side while Chelsea take on Borussia Dortmund.
Pep Guardiola will continue his quest for the Champions League trophy that eluded him for 11 years as his Manchester City side take on Germany’s RB Leipzig.
The draw should please Real Madrid president Florentino Perez, who recently complained about the scarcity of football’s top teams to play against each other and said the midweek European competition should offer fans matches between “the strongest teams and with the best players in the world” throughout the year. .
“If you look at the last Champions League finalists, Liverpool, a historic team with six European Cups, it turns out that we have only faced them nine times in 67 years.
While Real and Liverpool will be playing for a 10th time in 2023, the two teams have met twice in the final of the competition in the past five seasons, with the Spanish outfit winning both times.
Real also beat Liverpool in two matches in the 2020/21 season and haven’t lost a game to the Reds in their previous six encounters.
That latest win came in the Round of 16 on a famous night at Anfield in 2009 when Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres inspired the home side to a 4-0 win.
Real will be favorites to reach the quarter-finals given Liverpool’s stuttering start to the season – Jurgen Klopp’s side are well behind in the Premier League title race – while the European Cup holders won their Champions League group with ease and are already in control in La Ligue.
The first legs are scheduled for 14/15/21/22 February, the return matches for 7/8/14/15 March.
Champions League round of 16 draw:
Paris Saint Germain v Bayern Munich
Inter Milan v FC Porto
Borussia Dortmund v Chelsea
Eintracht Frankfurt vs Napoli!
AC Milan v Tottenham
Liverpool v Real Madrid
Club Brugge v Benfica
RB Leipzig v Manchester City
