NYON: Paris Saint-Germain was paired with Manchester United in the Champions League round of 16 on Monday, creating a meeting between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo at their new clubs.
PSG will return to the city where it lost against Manchester City in the group stage in November.
Manchester City was paired with United’s group-stage opponent, Villarreal, whose coach Unai Emery will once again return to England where he spent time in the Premier League with Arsenal.
In a rare mistake by UEFA in a competition draw ceremony, United was initially drawn to play Villarreal even though the English club’s name should not have been in that pot since the two advanced from the same group. City was then drawn to play Villarreal instead.
Messi was on the losing side, with Barcelona, when he last faced Ronaldo and Manchester United at Old Trafford in the Champions League. That was a 1-0 loss in the 2008 semifinals.
The two stars have faced each other six times in the competition, and the most recent was 12 months ago. Ronaldo scored twice for Juventus in a 3-0 win at Camp Nou in the group stage.
The last-16 draw also created three rematches of European Cup finals from decades ago.
Real Madrid was drawn away to Benfica, which won the 1962 final between the clubs.
Bayern Munich will be away first against Atlético Madrid, which it beat in a replay to win the 1974 title.
Inter Milan vs. Ajax is a repeat of the 1972 final which the Dutch side won to take the second of its four European titles.
Liverpool was paired with Salzburg and defending champion Chelsea will play Lille, the lowest-ranked team among the 16. Juventus will be away first against Sporting Lisbon.
The eight group winners were seeded in the draw and will play the second leg at home.
First-leg games are played over two midweeks from Feb. 15-23. Return games are from March 8-16.
Teams were separated in the draw from opponents they already played in the group stage and also clubs from their home country. There are no draw restrictions from the quarterfinals stage.
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