Defending champions Real Madrid will square off against Manchester City in the playoff round of the UEFA Champions League 2024-25 season. Both the clubs had a rough start to their campaign but managed to fight back and make it to the next round of Europe’s premier club competition. After a 2-0 defeat against Liverpool, the Los Blancos won three back-to-back matches against Atalanta, Salzburg and Brest to make it to the playoffs.
City, on the other hand, were on the verge of elimination. They were a goal down at half-time against Club Brugge in their final league game and were out of contention before Mateo Kovacic and Savinho scored one each while Joel Ordonez put one back in his own net, helping the team win 3-1 and progress to the next round.
Meanwhile, it will be the fourth consecutive time when Madrid and City will square off in the Champions League. The 15-time Champions League winner won the battle last year but it stands 2-2 in the last four years and the games have been extremely intense.
Notably, the Etihad Stadium in Manchester will host the first leg on February 11/12 while Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid will host the second leg of the clash on February 18/19. The winner will progress to the quarter-finals, where eight top-ranked teams will be waiting for them along with other playoff winners.
Apart from Madrid and City, other notable teams such as Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus and Paris Saint Germain will also feature in the knockout round of the Champions League.
Knockout fixtures:
Club Brugge | Atalanta |
Sporting CP | Borussia Dortmund |
Manchester City | Real Madrid |
Celtic | Bayern Munich |
Juventus | PSV |
Feyenoord | AC Milan |
Brest | Paris Saint-Germain |
Monaco | Benfica |
Where to Watch the matches:
Sony Sports Network will broadcast all the matches. Meanwhile, fans can stream it live on Sony Liv and Jio TV.