The first phase and playoff round of the 2024-25 UEFA Champions League are in the books.
Now it’s time to get serious with the start of the knockout portion of European club soccer’s biggest and most prestigious competition.
Friday’s draw conducted by UEFA at its headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, determined the round of 16 matches, thus completing the bracket for the rest of the tournament.
Here are the matchups for the two-legged round of 16 series, which will take place from March 4-5 and March 11-12. The team listed second will host the decisive second leg.
Paris Saint-Germain vs. Liverpool
This is one of the marquee matchups of the round of 16. It’s also a rematch from the 2018-19 tournament group stage when the clubs each earned a win before Liverpool went on to become crowned European champions for a sixth time. PSG has a dangerous attack led by the in-form Ousmane Dembélé (six goals in this season’s competition), but it faces a daunting task in breaking down a Liverpool side that conceded just five times during the first phase of this year’s competition.
Quarter-final opponent: Club Brugge or Aston Villa
Club Brugge vs. Aston Villa
This is a rematch from the first phase of the tournament as Brugge earned a 1-0 win on Matchday 4 courtesy of Hans Vanaken’s goal. The Belgian club just barely qualified for the playoffs before putting the hammer down against Serie A’s Atalanta in the playoffs with a 5-2 aggregate win. Villa might be the dark horse pick to win it all after an impressive first round that saw them win five of eight games and claim one of the eight automatic berths for the round of 16.
Quarter-final opponent: Paris Saint Germain or Liverpool
Real Madrid vs. Atlético Madrid
This is one of two match-ups pitting clubs from the same country against each other. This two-legged Madrid Derby should be a pretty open affair featuring two teams who like to attack. Vinícius Júnior and Kylian Mbappé each have seven goals for Real, while Atlético’s Julián Alvarez and Antoine Griezmann have combined for 12 goals. The two sides have already battled to a pair of 1-1 draws in La Liga this season, indicating how close things are between these two heated rivals.
Quarter-final opponent: PSV Eindhoven or Arsenal
PSV Eindhoven vs. Arsenal
Arsenal breezed through the first round with six wins through eight games to clinch a spot in the round of 16. Meanwhile, Eindhoven went winless through the first three games before rebounding to claim a playoff spot and then beat Juventus over two legs. On paper, you’d have to give the nod to Arsenal. But the Dutch club has proven to be incredibly resilient in this year’s competition. This will be the third consecutive season that Mikel Arteta’s side face PSV, having been in the same group in both the Champions League and Europa League.
Quarter-final opponent: Real Madrid or Atlético Madrid
Feyenoord vs. Inter Milan
Feyenoord did very well to get to this point by winning four games in the first phase (despite conceding 21 goals) and then defeating AC Milan over two legs in the playoffs. But the Dutch side is dealing with a raft of injuries, including to captain Quinten Timber who has been ruled out for the rest of the season due to a knee injury. Also, top scorer Santiago Giménez was recently signed by AC Milan. Now they have to go up against an Inter Milan side that clinched an automatic berth while giving up just one goal in eight games.
Quarter-final opponent: Bayern Munich or Bayer Leverkusen
Bayern Munich vs. Bayer Leverkusen
It’s an all-German affair between Bayer Leverkusen, the reigning Bundesliga champions, and Bayern Munich, six-time winners of this competition. While Leverkusen had a relatively easy time in the first round, Bayern struggled and needed a late goal from Canadian Alphonso Davies to beat Celtic in the second leg of the playoffs to advance to the round of 16. These teams have played to a pair of draws in the Bundesliga this season and occupy the top two spots on the table, so this European showdown promises to be another tightly contested affair.
Quarter-final opponent: Feyenoord or Inter Milan
Borussia Dortmund vs. Lille OSC
Canadian forward Jonathan David will be front and centre for Lille when the French club goes head-to-head with last season’s Champions League runners-up. David, a 25-year-old from Ottawa, has six goals in this season’s competition, and he also ranks among the top goal scorers in the French league with 12 goals. David is out of contract with Lille at the end of the season and several top European clubs are already trying to secure the services of a player who is being touted as this summer’s biggest free agent. A strong showing against Dortmund would only make the competition to sign David even fiercer.
Quarter-final opponent: Benfica or Barcelona
Benfica vs. Barcelona
These teams had a wild affair on Matchday 7 last month when Barcelona earned a 5-4 win in Lisbon — Raphinha’s goal deep into injury time settled the wildly entertaining contest in Barcelona’s favour. Now they meet again over two legs and Benfica has to find a way to shut down a Barca attack that scored a tournament-high 28 goals during the initial phase. Robert Lewandowski (nine goals) and Raphinha (eight goals) ranked second and third in the goal-scoring race, powering a Barcelona side that has yet to be shut out in this season’s Champions League.
Quarter-final opponent: Borussia Dortmund or Lille OSC
Editor’s note
John Molinaro is one of the leading soccer journalists in Canada, having covered the game for over 25 years for several media outlets, including Sportsnet, CBC Sports and Sun Media. He is currently the editor-in-chief of TFC Republic, a website dedicated to in-depth coverage of Toronto FC and Canadian soccer.
