The draw for the last-16 of the Champions League has been made with both Spanish and French sides facing intriguing ties.
Barcelona v Paris Saint-Germain
For the first time since the dramatic 2016/17 last-16 fixture, the Spanish and French giants will meet in the Champions League knockout stages once again.
Their previous meeting saw Barcelona achieve Champions League history by becoming the first time to overturn a first-leg 4-0 deficit to beat PSG 6-1 at the Nou Camp and dump Unai Emery’s out of Europe.
Neymar was Barcelona’s catalyst for that extraordinary comeback, scoring two and assisting Sergi Roberto’s winner all in the final 10 minutes, but has now moved to the French capital.
With the sides not meeting until February, their form may change but at this present time both are underperforming in their respective leagues.
Frenkie De Jong’s winner knocked Real Sociedad off top spot in their last outing and made it back-to-back wins in La Liga for the first time since the opening two games. The latest victory has moved Ronald Koeman’s side up to fifth and two points off a Champions League place with a game in hand.
As for PSG, they lost to Lyon at the Parc des Princes for the first time since 2007 but bounced back with a 2-0 victory against Lorient. They sit second behind Lille and Neymar remains sidelined with the ankle injury he sustained against Lyon but should be back for this fixture.
Atletico Madrid v Chelsea
The last time these two met was in the group stage of the 2017/18 edition where they shared the points in Spain before Chelsea claimed all three points at Stamford Bridge.
A semi-final encounter in 2014 was their last match in the knockout stages where Atleti earned a place in the final with a 3-1 win on aggregate.
The Spanish side finished runners-up behind holders Bayern Munich in the group stages and have reached this stage every year since 2017/18, losing to Leipzig in the quarter-finals last season.
Chelsea claimed top spot in their group ahead of Sevilla without losing a game but will be looking for an improvement on the previous year when they were thrashed 7-1 on aggregate by Bayern Munich at this stage.
Domestically, Diego Simone’s men suffered their first league defeat in 26 matches when they lost 2-0 to rivals Real Madrid but are top on goal difference with three games in hand.
Chelsea lost 2-1 at Wolverhampton Wanderers in their last Premier League outing and have fallen six points behind leaders Liverpool in seventh place.
Atalanta v Real Madrid
These two sides meet for the first time in European competition after both progressed from the group stage on the final day.
Atalanta needed to avoid defeat at Ajax and a late Luis Muriel goal ensured their place in the knockout stages behind Liverpool as they look to better their agonising semi-final defeat to PSG in 2019/20.
Their Spanish counterparts were facing an embarrassing exit at the group stage for the first time ever but a win over Borussia Monchengladbach improbably secured top spot ahead of the Germans as they aim to progress further than last year, losing to Manchester City at this stage.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s side sit eighth in Serie A, although they have a game in hand, after an impressive 1-1 draw with holders Juventus.
Zinedine Zidane’s side have finally found some consistency and their 3-1 win against Athletic Bilbao made it consecutive wins and brought them level on points with Real Sociedad and Madrid rivals Atleti.
Sevilla v Borussia Dortmund
Known more for their Europa League exploits, Sevilla will play Borussia Dortmund in their first Champions League knockout match since 2017/18.
That season, they beat Manchester United in the last-16 before losing to Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals – the only time they have reached that stage.
Dortmund finished top of their group ahead of Lazio and have lost at this stage in the last two seasons to Tottenham Hotspur and PSG.
The previous time they progressed to the quarter-finals was in 2016/17 when they lost 6-3 on aggregate to Monaco.
As for domestic form, Sevilla have had a decent start, sitting sixth after 12 games having beaten Getafe last time out.
Borussia Dortmund’s 5-1 loss to newly-promoted Stuttgart cost Lucien Favre his job where he had not fully realised the potential of an impressive, young squad since his arrival in summer 2018.
As a short-term solution, Dortmund have appointed assistant coach Edin Terzic and youth coaches Sebastian Geppert and Otto Addo in charge until the end of the season, but lost 2-1 to 1. FC Union Berlin in their second game.
