Real Madrid will face Manchester City in the Last 16 Round of the Champions League in February with the first leg at Santiago Bernabéu and the second leg at Manchester Stadium. Pep Guardiola will cross paths with the great enemy Real Madrid after the semi-finals against Bayern Munich where Los Blancos thrashed the German team in Munich (0-4) with an exhibition.
Atlético de Madrid were very unlucky and got the champions Liverpool. Barcelona will face Napoli and Valencia-Atalanta are the other games for the Spanish teams. Mourinho and his Tottenham will travel to Leipzig; Bayern Munich could get revenge after the final lost at home against Chelsea and PSG and their stars will also visit Germany to play against Borussia Dortmund. Lyon-Juventus is the last clash in the round.
This is the second time Real Madrid will face Manchester City in the knock-out stage of the Champions League recently with good thoughts. Zinedine Zidane lead the team to his first final as a manager with a victory over Pellegrini’s City thanks to a goal scored by Gareth Bale at Bernabéu in the semi-finals.
Los Blancos will have a tough rival but this season they are weaker than before. In the Premier League City is 14 points behind Liverpool, which could be a disadvantage for Los Blancos because they will focus in the European competition, their challenge this season. City has never reached an European final and this is their goal of the season. Actually, Guardiola has been criticized for his low performances recently in Europe.
At the moment, Kevin de Bruyne is the leader of the team, with Bernardo Silva also being a key player for the citizens. Los Blancos avoid Liverpool, the toughest team, or Juventus and Cristiano Ronaldo. For this reason, the supporters can be reasonably happy, although it would be a very balance clash.
