The Champions League round of 16 draw that took place today (Monday), managed to accurately reproduce two of the last three finals of the factory.
In this replay of last year Real Madrid will face Liverpool, and in this replay of 2020 PSG will meet Bayern Munich.
This means that two out of four of the candidates for the title will not be in the quarter-finals.
PSG - Bayern Munich:
To the question of how significant Benfica's 6-1 win over Sami Ofer against Maccabi Haifa in the final round will be, a victory that sent the Portuguese to first place in the table and dropped the French to second only because of the away goals advantage, a clear answer was received: very significant.
While Benfica enjoyed a comfortable draw on paper in the form of Club Brugge, the French champions faced Bayern Munich who ended a group stage that included Barcelona and Inter in perfect balance.
For a team that was eliminated in the round of 16 four times in the previous seasons - mostly due to cruel draws - this is a particularly difficult hurdle.
PSG did knock out Bayern in the quarter-finals in 2021/2022, but the memory of the 2020 Champions League final is still there.
It should be taken into account that the meetings will be held after the World Cup, and it is quite clear that at least two of the three - Neymar/Mbappe/Messi - will return from Qatar with a load.
"We didn't get a comfortable opponent" admitted Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann;
"But I'm sure PSG is not happy to have us either."
The stars of PSG arrive in Munich, photo: AFP
Liverpool - Real Madrid:
Jurgen Klopp's team paid the heaviest price that could come with second place.
Real Madrid not only beat Liverpool in last year's final, they also did so in the 2018 final and in the quarter-finals in 2021.
Beyond the history that places Carlo Ancelotti's team as the favorite, there is also the present.
Liverpool experienced a decline this season seasoned with instability and in the current form it will be difficult for them to beat Real in two home and away games.
Carlo Ancelotti, photo: Reuters
The rest of the games
Just as Benfica benefited from being first at home, so did Napoli.
Thanks to the fact that they were ahead of Liverpool by a goal difference, Luciano Spalletti's team will arrive as a clear favorite for the pair of meetings against Eintracht Frankfurt.
Manchester City can also see itself as a favorite in the meeting against RB Leipzig.
The last three meetings currently look particularly open and intriguing.
Milan, returning to this status after nine years, will face Tottenham and Antonio Conte (provided he is not fired before the round of 16).
Stuttering Inter is expected to struggle against Porto, while the meeting between Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund may also go either way.
City players, photo: Reuters
European league
Xavi looked at the draw for the playoffs of the Europa League and could hardly believe his eyes.
"Once again we got the most difficult draw" he said after his Barcelona fell to Manchester United, and this after sharing a house in the Champions League with Bayern Munich and Inter.
"They have improved a lot under Tan Haah, they have excellent players, there is no doubt that this is the hardest we could have."
Ronaldo and Tan the brother.
Crazy lottery, photo: Reuters
The previous meetings between the teams were all in the Champions League, in the quarter-finals in 2018/2019 and in the finals of 2009 and 2011, but a lot has changed since then.
Cristiano Ronaldo is indeed here again and even said "it will be fun to meet", but both teams are in a transition period - one longer and one shorter.
The knowledge that only one of them will remain in the factory makes this encounter the most intriguing of all.
Other interesting games:
Sevilla - PSV Eindhoven, Ajax - Union Berlin - Juventus - Nantes.
Conference League
Anderlecht and Lior Rafalov will play against Ludogorets and Dani Groffer in the factory playoffs.
Beavers Natcho and Partizan Belgrade will play against Sharif Tirspol, and AK Larnaca with Omri Altman against Dnipro of Ukraine.
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