Madrid to play City in Champions League knockout playoffs amid Vinicius rumors

Real Madrid will play Manchester City in the Champions League knockout playoffs round in a standout clash of the past two title winners after the draw was made Friday.

Man City, the 2023 champion, will host the first leg on Feb. 11 or 12 and the return game in Madrid is on Feb. 18 or 19. Madrid won a record-extending 15th European title last season.

The winner over two legs advances to the round of 16 to face either Atletico Madrid or Bayer Leverkusen, who placed in the top eight of the new 36-team league standings that ended Wednesday.

Teams that finished from Nos. 9 to 24 in the standings dropped into the two-leg knockout playoffs. Madrid placed 11th and Man City barely qualified in 22nd, after rallying to beat Club Brugge 3-1 in a must-win game.

By finishing in 22nd Man City knew it would have to face No. 11 Madrid or No. 12 Bayern Munich in the playoffs. Munich was drawn instead to face 21st-place Celtic.

Seedings decided by the 36-team standings means Madrid and Man City already know the winner of their two-leg blockbuster will be drawn then to face No. 5 Atletico or No. 6 Leverkusen. UEFA makes the round of 16 pairings on Feb. 21.

The tennis-style knockout bracket in the fresh competition format also now allows teams from the same country to face each other before the quarterfinals. That was not possible for the past two decades when the round of 16 opened the knockout phase.

That left Paris Saint-German to be drawn Friday to face French rival Brest, which it also plays in a Ligue 1 game Saturday. Monaco was left to face Benfica.

National derby games between Italian and Dutch sides were avoided because AC Milan was paired with Feyenoord, before Juventus was drawn to face PSV Eindhoven.

Concluding the matches, Club Brugge play Atalanta and Sporting Lisbon face Borussia Dortmund.

Teams awaiting them in the round of 16 in March are Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter Milan, Atletico, Leverkusen, Lille and Aston Villa.