Holders Liverpool will return to the scene of last season’s Champions League triumph after they were drawn against Atletico Madrid in the last 16 of the competition on Monday and Manchester City face 13-time winners Real Madrid.
Jurgen Klopp’s side will travel to the Wanda Metropolitano, where Liverpool lifted the trophy in June, for the first leg of their tie against three-time runners-up Atletico.
“Madrid is the place where we only have fantastic memories, all of us, so that’s great, but this time we play Atletico there and it’s their home ground,” said Klopp.
“It’s a tough one, but if you go through all of the draws, there are pretty much four or five potential finals already in the last 16.”
Pep Guardiola’s City, who are trying to win a first Champions League crown, face a tough task against Real, the record winners of Europe’s top club prize, for a place in the quarter-finals.
The two clubs met in the 2015-16 semi-finals, the furthest City have progressed in the tournament. That tie was won 1-0 on aggregate by Real.
“It is a difficult one, of course. Real Madrid have won 13 times so they are the best,” City director of football Txiki Begiristain told BT Sport.
“We want to be the best so we want to beat them.”
The clash is a first competitive meeting between Guardiola and Zinedine Zidane, who won the Champions League three times in a row with Real from 2016.
“They are a big opponent, very powerful in every sense,” said Real director Emilio Butragueno.
“It’s going to be an exciting tie — one of those that makes us love this wonderful sport.”
Chelsea face German giants Bayern Munich in a repeat of the 2012 final won by the Blues.
However, Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer has fond memories of London, where the Bavarians beat Borussia Dortmund in the 2013 final at Wembley.
