England’s four Champions League qualifiers face tough games while United play Barça in the EL
The draw for the next year’s knock-out rounds of the Champions League and Europa League has thrown up some fascinating ties and tough challenges for English clubs.
With all four English teams going through from the group stage of the Champions League, three as table-toppers, there should be plenty of interest when the Round of 16 takes place in February and March.
Group A runners-up Liverpool have landed Real Madrid, their nemesis at two recent Champions League finals, while last-minute group winners Tottenham may have been looking for a kinder draw than Milan.
Manchester City take on an improving Leipzig side while Chelsea will be looking to progress after being paired with an inconsistent Dortmund.
In the other four ties, dark horses Benfica meet surprise package Club Bruges, 2021 Europa League winners Eintracht Frankfurt take on Serie A leaders Napoli, and Internazionale and Porto seem quite evenly matched. In a repeat of the Champions League final of 2020, Bayern Munich clash with Paris Saint-Germain.
With a perfect record in the group stage, the German champions will consider themselves unlucky at facing superstar-studded PSG, edged out of first place in group H by Benfica by dint of fewer away goals scored.
The Champions League final takes place at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul on June 10.
England’s sole representatives in the Europa League, Manchester United, could have faced Nantes or Salzburg – instead, it’s Barcelona, desperate to win a European trophy of some kind after failure in the Champions League this season.
Ajax–Union Berlin should be fascinating, while EL specialists Sevilla will have their work cut out against PSV Eindhoven.
Home-and-away ties in the Knockout Round Play-offs take place within a week of each other in mid-February. The Europa League final takes place at the Puskás Aréna in Budapest on May 31.
West Ham will be in February’s draw for a later knock-out round of the Conference League, scheduled for March.
