By Samuel A. February 23, 2025
League phase leaders Liverpool will play Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League last 16 while Arsenal face PSV Eindhoven and Aston Villa take on Club Brugge. Elsewhere in Friday’s draw, there will be an all-German tie as Bayern Munich meet Bayer Leverkusen. Borussia Dortmund will play Lille, Barcelona will play Benfica and Feyenoord will go up against Inter Milan. Last but not least, title holders Real Madrid face local rivals Atlético Madrid.
Last 16 ties will take place on March 4 and 5 with the second legs played on March 11 and 12. All the three English sides who made it to this stage are on the same side of the draw, meaning Liverpool could face Aston Villa in the quarterfinals and then Arsenal in the semifinals. Any English club hoping to reach the final may meet Real Madrid but they won’t play Barcelona until the final.
Liverpool, who topped the league at the league phase, may leave the draw feeling hard done by, as the side won seven out of eight games to progress to this stage as the No.1 seed, bypassing the playoff round along with the other top eight teams, but still managed to draw PSG, who are in serious form. PSG finished 15th in the league phase of the competition due to a poor start to the new format, but still managed to reach the round of 16 after a late form rise, coupled with a resounding 10-0 aggregate win over fellow French side Brest in the playoff round.
The tie puts the league leaders in England and France against each other, while both teams possess two of the continent’s most effective forwards this season in Mohamed Salah and Ousmane Dembélé. The winners are due to face either Villa or Brugge in the quarterfinal.
Meanwhile, Madrid and Atlético will meet in a mouthwatering derby, with the first leg to be played at the Bernabéu and the return game at the Metropolitano. Madrid, who are 15-time champions, reached this stage by knocking out Manchester City 6-3 on aggregate, with Kylian Mbappé scoring a hat trick in the second leg. It sets up a hugely difficult month for Atlético, which also face Barcelona three times in the coming weeks – twice in the a two-legged Copa del Rey semifinal and again in LaLiga.
The winners will meet either Arsenal or PSV in the last eight, with a potential semifinal against either Liverpool or PSG/ Club Brugge or Aston Villa.
On the other side of the draw, Bundesliga top two Bayern and Leverkusen will meet for the chance to take on either Feyenoord or Inter in the quarterfinal. The two sides drew 0-0 when they met in the league last weekend. A semifinal would then come against either Barça, Benfica, Dortmund or Lille. Barça beat Benfica 5-4 in the league phase in January, and the teams will meet again over two legs in the last 16, with Hansi Flick’s LaLiga leaders afforded the second leg at home after progressing as the second seed. A potential quarterfinal would then be against either Dortmund or Lille.
The last 16 draw in full:
Club Brugge vs. Aston Villa
Borussia Dortmund vs. Lille
Real Madrid vs. Atlético Madrid
Bayern Munich vs. Bayer Leverkusen
PSV Eindhoven vs. Arsenal
Feyenoord vs. Inter Milan
Paris Saint-Germain vs. Liverpool
Benfica vs. Barcelona
