NYON: Real Madrid versus Paris St Germain. Cristiano Ronaldo versus Neymar. Historic achievement versus burning ambition.

Two-time defending champions Real will have to overcome a sizeable obstacle when the Champions League resumes in February after they were drawn on Monday to play the tournament’s standout team in the last 16, made possible because the 12-time champions finished second in their group while PSG won their group.

“They [PSG] are really very strong in every department of the field,” Real director Emilio Butragueno said. “But I have to underline, we are the holders and our players, they always rise to the occasion.”

No club has won the European title three years running since Bayern Munich in the mid-1970s, underlining how big an achievement it would be if Real won the trophy again in the final in Kiev in May.

Big-spending PSG bought Neymar from Barcelona for a record 222 million euro ($262 million) fee in the offseason with a specific aim of winning a first European title. Real won six European Cups before PSG were even formed in 1970.

“As I always say, we must be ready to play any team and we will be ready,” PSG president Nasser al-Khelaifi said in a statement on the club’s website.

Neymar scored in five straight wins as PSG finished ahead of Bayern Munich in their group, finishing with a competition record of 25 goals in the group stage. Ronaldo scored in all six of Real’s matches to set another Champions League record.

Five-time champions Barca, who lead La Liga unbeaten despite the loss of Neymar, will face English champions Chelsea, one of five Premier league clubs in the draw. Chelsea are one of the few opponents Lionel Messi has failed to score against.

With eight former winners in the lineup, another clash of European champions pits Liverpool against FC Porto.

Tottenham Hotspur, who topped their group ahead of Real thanks to a 3-1 victory at Wembley, will face Serie A champions and last seasons’ runners-up Juventus.

Manchester City, who clocked up a record 14th successive Premier League victory on Sunday, are now listed as favourites after being handed a last-16 clash with Swiss club FC Basel.

Five-time winners Bayern will be happy with a two-legged clash with Turkish outsiders Besiktas, Europa League champions Manchester United take on Sevilla and AS Roma’s reward for winning their group ahead of Chelsea is a tricky tie against Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk.

The first legs will be played from February 13-21, with the return matches from March 6-14. The final will be played at the Olympic Stadium in Kiev on May 26.

The Champions League has proved beyond even the vast riches available to PSG and last season they were stunned in the last 16 by Barca, losing the second leg 6-1 after beating the Spanish side 4-0 in the French capital.

PSG ambassador Maxwell said the Real tie threw up the chance for the Parisian club to atone for that hammering by Barca.

“It’s a good draw, with two good games to play,” Maxwell said. “Our fans will like it after we were knocked out by Barcelona last season. It will be nice. It’s a beautiful challenge for the club. I think we’re ready for that.”

Real and PSG met in the group stage two seasons ago when the French team’s leader was Zlatan Ibrahimovic. They drew 0-0 in Paris and Real won 1-0 at home.

“Since then they have strengthened. They have signed very, very good players,” said Butragueno, whose club lost out to PSG in its pursuit of France forward Kylian Mbappe.

Butragueno regretted that one of the favourites would be eliminated so soon in the competition.

“This could have been the final, given the power of the two clubs. The last 16 is a bit early, we could say. Logically, we are both challengers for the trophy,” he said.

Chelsea and Barca will renew a regular Champions league rivalry that last surfaced in the 2012 semi-final when Chelsea won 3-2 on aggregate before going on to claim the trophy for the only time in their history.

Barcelona won the 2009 semi-final on away goals, Andres Iniesta breaking Chelsea’s hearts with a 93rd-minute decider.

“It is a good tie, the factor of playing the first leg away can always help you a little,” said Barca director Guillermo Amor. “We are very optimistic, we are confident and want to keep going in this competition.

“We will see who arrives better for the dates of the game. We hope we will be strong because we are facing a strong team, an English team that runs and is very physical but also has very good players.”

Chelsea boss Antonio Conte said past events were of no consequence.

“Our reaction must be positive. The past is the past, the present is another story,” he said.

The other English qualifiers fared better, especially City. While Basel are a formidable side at home and have taken big English scalps in the Champions League before, Pep Guardiola’s side will be firm favourites to progress.

“We have to be careful, they deserve to be here,” City’s technical director Txiki Begiristain said.

Tottenham will face Juventus, the Champions League runner-up in two of the past three seasons, for the first time while three-time champions Manchester United and Sevilla have also never met before. Liverpool, five-time winners, will be up against two-time former champions Porto.

Juve vice-president Pavel Nedved dubbed Spurs a “very solid team”.

“Juventus have been there [finals] twice in the last three years, it’s something that definitely does not happen to everyone, for now we think of Tottenham and nothing else.”

Bayern will face Besiktas for the first time since winning 2-0 home and away in the 1997-98 group stage.

“Bayern are a powerful team but we are not a piece of cake either,” Besiktas president Fikret Orman said.

Bayern’s director of sport Hasan Salihamidzic said the Germans would not be underestimating Besiktas, who should enjoy some raucous support from the city’s Turkish community.

“We know how strong they are after we followed their games against Leipzig. It will be a difficult task, but we are looking forward to the unusual atmosphere in their stadium,” he said.

“One always says that it is a disadvantage to play at home in the first-leg, which is right — it certainly won’t be an advantage — but we are strong enough to accept that and we will give our all.”

Unfancied Ukrainian club Shakhtar will host Roma in their adopted home city of Kharkiv. Their stadium in Donetsk has been ruled unsafe for games since conflict flared in 2014 between government forces and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.

“It’s very, very difficult,” said Shakhtar CEO Sergiy Palkin, whose team edged Napoli to advance. “It’s a very, very big effort for our club.”

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2017