December 13, (THEWILL) –Â Two of the world’s arguably best footballers of the times Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi will renew their rivalries in the Champions League Round of 16 after Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain were drawn together in the UEFA draw held in Nyon, Switzerland on Monday lunchtime.
The two-legged affair will pit the Portuguese and Argentine superstars in their respective new clubs together again in the Champions League for the third time in four seasons.
In the current campaign, United won their group, with Ronaldo scoring six goals in six games, while PSG finished second behind Manchester City, despite Messi hitting the net five times in the group stage. Last year’s campaign saw the two teams meet for the first time. United triumphed 2-1 in Paris but the Ligue 1 side prevailed 3-1 at Old Trafford.
Defending champions Chelsea had probably the most favourable draw possible as they will face Lille while Bayern Munich was paired with Atletico Madrid. Real Madrid will face a Benfica side that was complicit in the knockout of Barcelona.
Elsewhere, Liverpool will face Red Bull Salzburg for the second time after meeting the Austrian club in the 2019/2020 group stage while Villarreal, who finished second to United in the group stage, will face City.
Each seeded group winner was placed against an unseeded group runner-up in a random draw, while country protection was maintained. For this round, clubs that qualified from the same group were separated.
In 2022, the final 16 first-leg ties will be broken into two weeks, on either February 15/16 or February 22/23. The return legs will be on March 8/9 or March 15/16.
Because the away goals rule has been abolished for the first time this season, extra time is guaranteed if the aggregate score is tied at the completion of the second leg.
2021/22 Champions League last 16 draw in full
Benfica vs Real Madrid
Villarreal vs Manchester City
Atletico Madrid vs Bayern Munich
Red Bull Salzburg vs Liverpool
Inter Milan vs Ajax
Sporting CP vs Juventus
Chelsea vs Lille
Paris Saint-Germain vs Manchester United
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
