"It's like a derby now" Royal nightmare draw for Man City and a Swiss clash

Syl Battistuzzi

31.1.2025

The play-off round will see Manchester City face off against defending champions Real Madrid. The two top teams have already fought a number of heated duels in the recent past.

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  • The Champions League round of 16 will see a clash of giants between Manchester City and record winners Real Madrid.
  • Bayern Munich face Celtic Glasgow, while Borussia Dortmund take on Sporting Lisbon. Juve play against PSV, Milan against Feyenoord.

Real Madrid will face Manchester City in the play-offs: "It's like a derby now," said City coach Pep Guardiola, adding: "Four years in a row against Madrid." In the past three seasons, however, the two sides have crossed paths later: twice in the semi-finals and once in the quarter-finals.

Now, one of the giants of European football will fall by the wayside before the round of 16. "Blockbuster play-off", wrote the Daily Mail. "Nightmare Real Madrid", said the tabloid "The Sun". "Madrid or Bayern, Bayern or Madrid, both are really tough, hopefully we can do it," said Guardiola in the run-up. Manchester City had struggled to even make it into the new intermediate round.

An explosive duel

The two heavyweights have faced each other twelve times so far, with an even record of four wins and four draws, with the Spaniards coming out on top in three of the five knockout duels. The semi-final exit three years ago is a particularly painful memory for the English side. Back then, City looked like certain finalists before the "royals" saved themselves with two goals in stoppage time, in which Karim Benzema scored the decisive goal.

Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham meet again.
Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham meet again.
IMAGO/ZUMA Wire

The last meeting also went in favor of the Madrilenians. In the quarter-finals of last year's Champions League campaign, Real prevailed against Manuel Akanji and his team-mates on penalties.

Bayern lucky with the draw

FC Bayern, on the other hand, will avoid an imminent reunion with Pep Guardiola. It was the star coach's former favorite player, of all people, who ensured that Munich would not face City in the new Champions League play-offs. Instead, Thiago Alcántara drew Bayern against Celtic Glasgow.

"I've known Celtic for a long time. I played Champions League there myself. It's a special atmosphere. Anyone who has been to Celtic Park knows it's a special place. And they won't underestimate Celtic," Bayern coach Vincent Kompany had already said before the draw and warned. "The atmosphere at Celtic is insane," goalkeeper Manuel Neuer had emphasized. Bayern icon Thomas Müller already gave out the motto: "Let's rock it!"

BVB back the yellow wall in the second leg

Dortmund will play against Sporting Lisbon with their new coach Niko Kovac. BVB is full of hope after this draw. The fact that the Borussians are also playing away from home makes sporting director Sebastian Kehl confident: "Sporting is a challenging draw and an exciting task. It will be a duel at eye level, but with the second leg at home, we will be able to handle it."

The two major Italian clubs Juventus Turin (against Eindhoven) and AC Milan (against Feyenoord) avoided each other, as did Swiss internationals Gregor Kobel and Ardon Jashari. While Kobel will face Sporting Lisbon with Borussia Dortmund, Jashari will play with Bruges against Atalanta Bergamo.

Nevertheless, there will be a Swiss clash: Monaco with the trio of Breel Embolo, Philipp Köhn and Denis Zakaria will duel with Benfica Lisbon and Zeki Amdouni for a place in the round of 16. Brest with Edimilson Fernandes have been drawn against Paris Saint-Germain.

The first legs will take place on February 11/12, with the second legs a week later.