Liverpool battles PSG in crucial CL last 16

PARIS — Liverpool will take on Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) in the last 16 of this season's Champions League (CL) while Friday's draw also threw up a showdown between reigning champions Real Madrid and their city rivals Atletico.

Arne Slot's Liverpool finished first in the 36-team league phase of the competition to qualify directly for this stage, while PSG finished 15th and had to come through a two-legged playoff tie in which they crushed fellow French side Brest, 10-0, on aggregate.

The first leg will take place at the Parc des Princes in Paris on Wednesday, March 5, with the return at Anfield six days later, on Tuesday, March 11.

The clubs last met in the Champions League in the group stage in 2018/2019, when PSG won 2-1 at home after Liverpool triumphed 3-2 in England.

The only previous knockout tie between the sides came in the semifinals of the now defunct Cup Winners' Cup in 1997, when PSG won 3-2 on aggregate before losing the final to Barcelona.

Liverpool are currently eight points clear of Arsenal at the top of the English Premier League having played a game more than their closest rivals, while Luis Enrique's PSG are unbeaten in Ligue 1 this season and sit 10 points clear at the summit.

With the draw being made up to and including the semifinals, PSG and Liverpool know the winner of their tie will face either Club Brugge or Aston Villa in the last eight.

That raises the possibility of an all-English quarterfinal between the teams who succeeded each other as European Cup winners in the early 1980s.

Villa will face Club Brugge seeking revenge for their 1-0 defeat against the same opponents in Belgium in the league phase in November.

Real, fresh from eliminating Manchester City in the play-offs, will be at home in the first leg against Atletico on March 4.

The rivals from the Spanish capital met in the competition in four straight seasons in the last decade, with Real coming out on top every time.

They won the finals of 2014 and 2016, as well as in the quarterfinals in 2015 and in the semifinals in 2017.

"It's an amazing tie, and we are ready for it," insisted Atletico coach Diego Simeone, who was in charge for all of the past Champions League meetings between the sides.

"We have to play two magnificent games because of the quality of our opponents, but we have full confidence in our players and their ability to overcome all difficulties," said Emilio Butragueno, the former Real player who is now the club's director of institutional relations.

The winners of that tie will progress to a last-eight clash against either PSV Eindhoven or Arsenal.