UEFA Champions League 2020-21 Round of 16 fixtures announced
The UEFA Champions League draw for the Round of 16 was held in Nyon, Switzerland and all 16 teams that progressed got to know their fate for the knockout round.
The group stage was concluded in December, with 16 teams progressing to the knockouts. The 16 sides were classified into seeded and unseeded teams for the UEFA Champions League draw, with all group winners avoiding one another, while clubs from the same association and group could also not be drawn with one another.
The seeded teams for the draws were Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, and Paris Saint-Germain, while the unseeded teams were Atletico Madrid, Borussia Monchengladbach, Porto, Atalanta, Sevilla, Lazio, Barcelona, and RB Leipzig.
All first legs will take place at the home of the unseeded teams, with return fixtures taking place in the home of the seeded sides. The matches are slated to take place on February 16 and 17, with second leg fixtures set to played on March 9 and 10, 2021.
UEFA Champions League draw sees Barcelona pitted against Paris Saint-Germain
First out of the hat was Manchester City and Pep Guardiola's side will travel to Germany to take on Borussia Monchengladbach. Bayern Munich will continue the defense of their crown against Italian side Lazio, who are competing in this stage for the first time in over two decades.
Frank Lampard will test his coaching acumen against a seasoned veteran in Diego Simeone, as Chelsea square off with Atletico Madrid. The Spaniards will have revenge on their mind, with the Londoners having eliminated them from the group stage in 2018.
An exciting clash awaits us in Germany, as two of the most aesthetic sides on the continent will face off when Liverpool and RB Leipzig battle it out for a place in the quarterfinal.
Jurgen Klopp cut his managerial teeth in Germany and shares many similarities with Julian Nagelsamann of Leipzig and this promises to be an exciting fixture.
Cristiano Ronaldo will lead Juventus to his native Portugal as the Old Lady face the Dragons of Porto.
Barcelona will renew hostilities when they host PSG and memories of 2017's remontada will be fresh in the mind of the French champions, although they would have the chief instigator of that comeback in their ranks (provided that Neymar can stay fit).
Sevilla finished second to Chelsea in their group and Borussia Dortmund await them in the next round. The Bundesliga side recently parted ways with Lucien Favre and will hope to get their season back on track.
Rounding up the UEFA Champions League draw is Real Madrid and Atalanta. The Italians have steadily punched above their weight in recent years and would hope to add Real Madrid to their recent list of impressive giant killings.
The UEFA Champions League Round of 16 fixture list
Manchester City vs Borussia Monchengladbach
Lazio vs Bayern Munich
Atletico Madrid vs Chelsea
RB Leipzig vs Liverpool
Porto vs Juventus
Barcelona vs PSG
Sevilla vs Dortmund
Atalanta vs Real Madrid
Also Read: Twitter explodes as Barcelona v PSG tie takes center stage in UEFA Champions League draw