Barcelona will face Paris St Germain and former striker Neymar while title holders Bayern Munich are up against Italy’s Lazio in the last 16 of the Champions League after UEFA’s draw was held on Monday.
The clash of Lionel Messi and Barca with last year’s runners-up PSG is a repeat of their remarkable meeting at the same stage in 2017 when Barca overcame a 4-0 first leg loss to beat the French club 6-1 in Spain with Neymar scoring twice for the Catalans, Reuters reported.
“We know them (PSG) well, they’ve got some exceptional players. Paris want to fight for the Champions League, last year they came very close to winning it and they want to go one better this time round, but we’ve got something to say about that,” said Guillermo Amor, Barcelona’s Director of Institutional Relations.
Bayern will start as favourites in their tie but will be wary of Simone Inzaghi’s Lazio team who have reached this stage for the first time in 20 years.
“Lazio are an uncomfortable opponent, you saw that in the group,” said Bayern sports director Hasan Salihamidzic. “It is always uncomfortable against Italian teams.”
Premier League champions Liverpool will play last year’s semi-finalists RB Leipzig creating a match-up between Germany’s most highly rated young coach Julian Nagelsmann of Leipzig with Liverpool’s Juergen Klopp, the country’s number one coach.
Liverpool are unbeaten in their last ten matches against German teams in all European competitions, a run going back to 2002.
13-times European champions Real Madrid face Serie A club Atalanta, who reached the quarter-finals in their first Champions League campaign last season. Real have won ten of their last eleven games with Italian clubs.
Atletico Madrid will face Chelsea in a game which could include the return of striker Diego Costa to Stamford Bridge.
Manchester City will take on Borussia Moenchengladbach, who are in the last 16 for the first time in the Champions League era.
Italian champions Juventus will face Porto, a game where Cristiano Ronaldo will return to his homeland Portugal.
The two legged ties will be played from Feb. 16.
