The draw for the UEFA Champions league knockout phase playoffs took place today, and gave us some enticing clashes.
After the new league format of the Champions league replaced the group stages, teams who finished between places nine and 24 will now meet each other in the knockout playoffs.
Meanwhile, the top eight – namely Liverpool, FC Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Lille and Aston Villa are exempted from this round and will only enter the Last-16.
Due to teams like Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Manchester City somewhat stuttering in the league phase, they will now face tricky knockout fixtures.
Full playoffs draw:
- Club Brugge vs Atalanta
- Sporting vs Borussia Dortmund
- Manchester City vs Real Madrid
- Celtic vs Bayern Munich
- Juventus vs PSV
- Feyenoord vs AC Milan
- Stade Brest vs Paris Saint-Germain
- AS Monaco vs Benfica