As Champion League draws go, there was always going to be great excitement given the calibre of the sides to have reached the knockout stages.
But the 2019/2020 last 16 draw has thrown up a positive treat for football fans as the top clubs in Europe size each other up and aim to produce spring Champions League highlights.
Among a number of stand-out ties is the meeting between 13-time European champions Real Madrid and English champions Manchester City.
This past week has produced the best and most vulnerable of City.
They were magnificent against albeit a limited Arsenal yesterday, showcasing why, on their day, they remain the best team in the country.
Eight days earlier, their fragilities were exposed by a rampant Manchester United team which banished, however briefly, its inconsistency.
If the likes of Sergio Aguero, Leroy Sane and, most importantly of all, Aymeric Laporte have returned from injury by then, City will start the tie as favourites.
The SBOBET Champions League betting odds back that up too.
There is the ghost of 2016 to contend with though. That remains the closest City have ever come to reaching a Champions League Final – something which has long been an aim of Sheikh Mansour since the billionaire’s takeover of the club in 2008.
That year, Real edged them out in the semi-finals and City will surely relish taking on a side without the genius of Cristiano Ronaldo and with former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola no doubt keen to put one over his old adversaries.
The first leg will take place at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in what will be the third time Guardiola has met Los Merengues at Europe’s top table.
As Barca coach, he was victorious in the 2011 semi-final, which was memorable for a lot of the wrong reasons due to the unedifying behaviour of players on both sides, yet in his second knockout tie against Madrid with Bayern Munich, he was on the receiving end of a 5-0 hammering.
A lot can change, of course, between now and February when the first leg takes place and Madrid are slowly proving a few of their doubters wrong and currently joint top of La Liga.
While that is the stand-out tie, a number of others are close behind.
Chelsea v Bayern Munich is a repeat of the 2012 final when the west Londoners won their sole Champions League crown on Munich soil.
Chelsea may not have the calibre of senior players they had seven years ago but they will certainly test a Munich side which has not had its own way this term to date, including the sacking of manager Niko Kovac.
They are currently six points off the pace in the Bundesliga, yet I still expect them to retain their domestic title and they are my dark horses for the Champions League crown too.
Munich romped to the knockout stages by winning all six group matches and it will be interesting to see if interim coach Hansi Flick is still in charge come next spring.
Their German counterparts Borussia Dortmund’s reward for coming through a tough group that included Barcelona and Inter Milan is a meeting with French champions Paris St Germain – whose head coach Thomas Tuchel was in charge of Dortmund from 2015-2017.
RB Leipzig also topped their group and their first ever Champions League knockout clash will be against last year’s defeated finalists Tottenham Hotspur, given new impetus under the management of Jose Mourinho, twice a winner of the competition.
Another intriguing tie involving an English club will see holders Liverpool meet Atletico Madrid, beaten finalists in 2014 and 2016.
The Merseysiders start as favourites against a team weakened by key departures this summer including Antoine Griezmann, Diego Godin, Lucas Hernandez and Rodri.
Yet any side managed by Diego Simeone will be no pushovers.
Elsewhere, a Carlo Ancelotti-less Napoli meet Barcelona. The veteran coach was last week dismissed for issues not entirely related to his team’s performances on the pitch and they have regularly punched above their weight with him at the helm.
For Ernesto Valverde, whilst on paper the draw is kind, there is an acute awareness that Barcelona suffered a disastrous result when they faced AS Roma in the knockout phase in 2018 and the Spanish coach can’t afford a repeat in Naples.
Two of the success stories against the odds meet each other with Atalanta hosting Valencia, while Ronaldo and Juventus will head to Lyon aiming to go further than last season when they were beaten at this stage.
The ‘old lady’ have played Lyon four times in the Champions League and are unbeaten against the Ligue 1 club, winning three and drawing once.
Roll on next spring!
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