Champions League round of 16 draw: The final is repeated soon, PSG faces Bayern

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The draw for the 1/8 round of the Champions League has ended, and there are many exciting competitions 

*Match 1: Leipzig vs Manchester City

*Match 2: Club Brugge vs Benfica

*Match 3: Liverpool vs Real Madrid

*Match 4: AC Milan vs Tottenham

*Match 5: Frankfurt vs. Napoli

*Match 6 : Dortmund vs Chelsea

*Match 7: Inter Milan vs. Porto

*Match 8 : PSG vs. Bayern Munich

Real Madrid vs. Liverpool: The final is repeated in the 1/8 round.

The draws brought Liverpool to face Real Madrid in the round of 16. This also means that last season's final will be repeated right from the first knockout round in the Champions League 2022–23. This will be an opportunity for coach Jurgen Klopp to "revenge" Real Madrid after disappointing defeats in the past.

Talking about the result of the draw, Liverpool's coach, Jurgen Klopp, said:

"The first thing that we can say about this draw is that it is proper Champions League." This is a tie that speaks for itself, and we should all be excited about it. "I know we've played Real Madrid in some finals recently, but it's not often that the two clubs meet in the knockout stages, so for now we can expect a good result."

These are indeed two worthy opponents because nearly six months ago, Los Blancos defeated the Reds 1-0 in the Champions League final of 2012/13 thanks to Vinicius Junior's only goal that helped Real Madrid win the 14th Champions League title in the club's history. In the Champions League 2020/21 season, Liverpool also faced Real Madrid in the quarterfinals. In this match, the representative of La Liga defeated Jurgen Klopp's team with a total score of 3-1 after two matches to gain tickets to the semi-finals. Three years ago, Real Madrid also defeated Liverpool 3-1 in the Champions League final 2017/18 to win the title. It was a match where two mistakes by goalkeeper Loris Karius "rejected" the championship for Real. Since 2014 until now, Liverpool has only had 1 draw against Real (2021); the rest are losses to the Spanish representative. In the last 6 meetings in the Champions League, Real Madrid had outstanding results with an unbeaten record. The Royal team won five matches and only drew one, including two victories in the final.

The last time Liverpool could win against Real in the Champions League was in March 2019 in the 1/8 round. It was a match where the Reds smashed their opponents 4-0 at Anfield to win tickets to go to the next round. Howerver, this is also basis for Jurgen Klopp to believe about positive result for Liverpool.

With all the head-to-head results in the past, Real is really the nightmare of Liverpool. Jurgen Klopp's team can be very strong at some stages, even considered difficult to beat, but when they met Real, they seemed to lose their power. Karim Benzema is undoubtedly Liverpool's biggest threat. He has scored 16 goals against Premier League representatives, more than in any other league where the French star has scored.

PSG vs. Bayern: Predestination

The 1/8 Champions League round also witnessed another "vindictive" competition, which was PSG vs. Bayern. Two clubs had exciting meets in the past. In the Champions League 2020/21, PSG eliminated Bayern in the quarter-finals thanks to the away goal rule after drawing with a total score of 3-3 in two matches. However, when considering the head-to-head result with Bayern, PSG can not forget the 2019/20 Champions League final, where they once finished 0-1 before the Bundesliga representative after Kingsley Coman's only goal. In the last 5 encounters in the Champions League, Bayern's result is slightly better than PSG's, with 3 wins and 2 losses.

This season, PSG may be more confident when they face Bayern because they currently own three attacking stars: Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, and Lionel Messi. However, so far, Messi has only scored into Bayern's net four times in seven encounters with this opponent. Notably, the last time the Argentine superstar scored against Bayern was in May 2015, in the first leg of the semi-final. In this year, Messi scored twice to help Barcelona win 3-0 against Gray Lobster. PSG's fragile defense will most likely become an "advantage" for Bayern, and this match is really worth the wait.

Matches of equal clubs

In addition to the many predestined matches, the eighth round of the Champions League also holds matches involving equal-level clubs. Tottenham will meet Milan, opponent they have beaten only four times in the past, including three victories.

In terms of force and strength, the Spurs are completely on par with the Rossoneri. How coach Antonio Conte will handle and arrange his squad for this match is also something that fans are looking forward to. 

The matchup between Dortmund and Chelsea certainly cannot be ignored. These two clubs have never met in European competitions, so this match will be more interesting. Currently, Chelsea are struggling under coach Graham Potter time, while Dortmund's performance is unstable in the Bundesliga. In general, this is a very difficult match to predict when the strengths of the two teams are the same.

Club Brugge vs. Benfica, Frankfurt vs. Napoli, or Inter vs. Porto are also three promising pairs in the 1/8 round of the Champions League 2022/23.

The ticket is easy to get for Manchester City.

Among the strong candidates for the championship, Man City is clearly the name that benefits the most because they only have to face RB Leipzig. In the past, the two teams have met twice in the Champions League group stage in 2021/22. Manchester City won 6-3 in the first leg at Etihad but was successfully avenged by the opponent in the second leg with a score of 2-1 in Germany. However, if Manchester City plays with the right strength and maintains their current performance, it is completely within reach for Man City to overcome Leipzig and go to the next round. 

On the other hand, matches in the Champions League are always surprising, and anything can happen. A small mistake can cause any club to fail.

The first leg matches in the 1/8 round of the Champions League will take place on February 14, 15, 2023, or February 21 and 22, 2023. Meanwhile, the second leg will be played on March 7, 8, 2023, or March 14, 15, 2023.

Round 16 of the Champions League is a promising round. After the World Cup of 2022, this is a round with interesting matches that can bring the football atmosphere to Europe.