Barca and PSG rematch highlights CL draw as City take on Gladbach
- 14 Dec 2020
Gulf Today Report
Barcelona will face Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16 of the Champions League in a rematch of their classic encounter at the same stage four seasons ago.
The marquee matchup of Qatar-backed clubs that takes Neymar back to Barcelona headlined the knockout-stage pairings made on Monday.
In 2017, PSG wasted a 4-0 first-leg lead by losing 6-1 at Camp Nou in the second leg when Barcelona scored three goals from the 88th minute on.
Neymar scored Barcelona's fourth goal but left Lionel Messi’s side after that season and switched to PSG for a world-record transfer fee of 222 million euros ($262 million). PSG also did not have Kylian Mbappé four seasons ago.
Barcelona will host the first leg this time because it was unseeded in Monday’s draw after failing to win its group.
Defending champion Bayern Munich was paired with a Lazio team returning to the knockout stage after a two-decade gap.
Atalanta will host 13-time champion Real Madrid. Liverpool is away first against Leipzig in an intriguing contest of German coaches Jurgen Klopp and Julian Nagelsmann.
Cristiano Ronaldo will return to his native Portugal with Juventus for the first leg against Porto in a meeting of two-time European champions.
Manchester City and coach Pep Guardiola will play away first against Borussia Mönchengladbach, the lowest-ranked team left at No. 53 in UEFA's standings. Teams are ranked by results in the past five years of European competitions.
Atletico Madrid will play Chelsea, and Sevilla was paired with Borussia Dortmund, which fired its coach Lucien Favre on Sunday.
Teams could not be drawn against an opponent from their own country or one they already played in this season’s competition.
Group winners were seeded in the draw and play the second leg at home.
The round of 16 is spread over four midweeks. First-leg games are scheduled Feb.16-17 or 23-24; return games on March 9-10 or 16-17.
The final is scheduled May 29 at the Olympic Stadium in Istanbul.
Associated Press
