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Manchester City and Real Madrid will meet in the Champions League knockout stages for the fourth year in a row as Pep Guardiola looks forward to another “derby” against the 15-time winners.
City were drawn to face holders Madrid in the Champions League play-offs, after both clubs failed to reach the last-16 automatically by finishing outside the top eight of the inaugural league phase.
Madrid defeated City on penalties in last season’s quarter-finals before going on to lift the Champions League at Wembley. In the season before, City triumphed over Madrid in the semi-finals before beating Inter in the Istanbul final.
“It looks like a derby already, four years in a row facing Madrid,” Guardiola said. “Hopefully we can arrive in the moment and win the first leg here and the game one week later in Madrid.”
Celtic’s first Champions League knockout tie since 2013 promises to be another big occasion as the Glasgow side take on German giants Bayern Munich, while Liverpool, Arsenal and Aston Villa are already through to the last-16.
Champions League play-off dates
(all kick-off times 8pm GMT unless stated)
Tuesday 11 February
Brest vs PSG (5:45pm)
Juventus vs PSV
Manchester City vs Real Madrid
Sporting vs Borussia Dortmund
Wednesday 12 February
Club Brugge vs Atalanta (5:45pm)
Monaco vs Benfica
Celtic vs Bayern Munich
Feyenoord vs AC Milan
Tuesday 18 February
AC Milan vs Feyenoord (5:45pm)
Atalanta vs Club Brugge
Bayern Munich vs Celtic
Benfica vs Monaco
Wednesday 19 February
Borussia Dortmund vs Sporting (5:45pm)
PSG vs Brest
PSV vs Juventus
Real Madrid vs Manchester City
When is the next Champions League draw?
The full knockout stage draw, involving Liverpool, Arsenal, Aston Villa and the play-off winners, will be on Friday 21 February at 11am GMT.
Champions League knockout dates
Knockout phase play-offs: 11/12 & 18/19 February 2025
Last-16: 4/5 & 11/12 March 2025
Quarter-finals: 8/9 & 15/16 April 2025
Semi-finals: 29/30 April & 6/7 May 2025
The final will be held at the Allianz Arena in Munich on 31 May 2025.
