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UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL REMATCH TO BE PLAYED BY REAL MADRID AND LIVERPOOL IN ROUND OF 16

In the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League, Real Madrid will play Liverpool in a rematch of last year's final. Madrid has defeated Liverpool in both the 2018 and 2022 finals, and the two giants will meet again in February after being paired up in Monday's draw, which also paired Paris Saint-Germain against Bayern Munich. As a reminder, this is a rematch of 2020 final, which the Germans won. For the second consecutive year, Paris Saint-Germain received a blockbuster draw at this stage of the competition. Karim Benzema's stunning late hat trick for eventual champion Madrid ended the French champion's quest for a first European title in March.

In this draw, PSG has been left exposed to Bayern since a stoppage-time goal from Benfica in their victory at Maccabi Haifa last week ensured the Portuguese club topped their group. The 15th-ranked team in the draw, Club Brugge, was drawn against Benfica on Monday. In its return to the Champions League knockout rounds after a nine-year absence, the lowest-ranked team, AC Milan, will face Tottenham at home in the first leg. In Premier League vs. Bundesliga clashes, Manchester City was paired with Leipzig and Chelsea with Borussia Dortmund. As the top scorer in the group stage, Napoli will take on Eintracht Frankfurt, while Inter Milan will take on Porto at home.

During the round of 16, teams from the same country or who played against each other in the group stage could not be paired together. It is scheduled that the first-leg games will take place from February 14-22. The return games will take place from March 7 to 15. Taking place in November and December, the World Cup in Qatar caused an unusually long wait between the group stage and the knockout stage. As a result of the congested season, the six-round group stage began earlier than usual in September and was completed in just nine weeks.