A premature final. The playoff draw determined that Manchester City would face Real Madrid for a place in the 1/8 of the Champions League.
According to the established scheme, the “Citizens” also had Bayern Munich as potential rivals, but the goalies decided to bring back the duel between the two teams that have dominated the event in recent years.
City-Real is both a bench duel between Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti, but also a challenge between the best players in the world and that could be worth the Ballon d’Or. On the other hand, Bayern is smiling because it awaits the easier test against Celtic.
The draw in Nyon avoided the Italian derby between Juventus and Milan. With a 50% chance of this match being played, the Bianconeri actually “fished” PSV Eindhoven, while the Rossoneri will have Feyenoord on their way.
In the other pairs, PSG challenges Brest, Benfica plays Monaco, Atalanta will face Club Brugge, while Borussia Dortmund will face Sporting.
The play-off matches will start on February 11 and 12, with the return matches scheduled for February 18 and 19.
According to the scheme towards the 2025 final in Munich, if Juventus and Milan qualify, they risk another derby, this time with Inter in the 1/8, where Arsenal is also the opponent.
Liverpool and Barcelona await the winners of the Brest-PSG and Monaco-Benfica pairs. The winners of the Manchester City-Real Madrid and Bayern-Celtic duels will have Atletico Madrid and Leverkusen as rivals. Meanwhile, Lille and Aston Villa are the next potential opponents for Atalanta and Dortmund.
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