NYON: Barcelona will face Paris St Germain in the round of 16 of the Champions League in a rematch of their classic encounter at the same stage four seasons ago.

The marquee matchup of Qatar-backed clubs that takes Neymar back to Barca headlined the knockout-stage pairings made on Monday.

In 2017, PSG wasted a 4-0 first-leg lead by losing 6-1 at Camp Nou in the second leg when Barca scored three goals from the 88th minute on.

Neymar scored Barca’s fourth goal but left Lionel Messi’s side after that season and switched to PSG for a world-record transfer fee of 222 million euros ($262 million). PSG also did not have Kylian Mbappe four seasons ago.

Barca will host the first leg this time because they were unseeded in Mondays draw after failing to win their group.

With the matches due to be played in February, PSG will hope Neymar will have recovered from an ankle injury which forced him to be stretchered off the pitch in the 1-0 Ligue 1 defeat to Olympique Lyonnais on Sunday.

“We know them [PSG] well, they’ve got some exceptional players. Paris want to fight for the Champions League, last year they came very close to winning it and they want to go one better this time round, but we’ve got something to say about that,” said Guillermo Amor, Barca’s Director of Institutional Relations.

Defending champions Bayern Munich, who beat PSG in the 2020 final to win a sixth European crown, play Lazio in the knockout phase.

Bayern will start as favourites in their tie but will be wary of Simone Inzaghi’s Lazio team who have reached this stage for the first time in 20 years.

“Lazio are an uncomfortable opponent, you saw that in the group,” said Bayern sports director Hasan Salihamidzic. “It is always uncomfortable against Italian teams.”

Premier League champions Liverpool will play last year’s semi-finalists RB Leipzig creating a match-up between Germany’s most highly rated young coach Julian Nagelsmann of Leipzig with Liverpool’s Juergen Klopp, the country’s number one coach.

Liverpool are unbeaten in their last ten matches against German teams in all European competitions, a run going back to 2002, but will be wary of an attack-minded Leipzig side who ended the hopes of Manchester United in the group phase.

13-time European champions Real Madrid face Serie A club Atalanta, who reached the quarter-finals in their first Champions League campaign last season. Real have won ten of their last eleven games with Italian clubs.

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City team, still seeking a first Champions League title, will take on Borussia Moench­engladbach, who are in the last 16 for the first time in the Champions League era.

Cristiano Ronaldo will return to his native Portugal with Juventus for the first leg against FC Porto in a meeting of two-time European champions.

Atletico Madrid will face Chelsea in a game which could include the return of striker Diego Costa to Stamford Bridge and Sevilla were paired with Borussia Dortmund, who fired their coach Lucien Favre on Sunday.

The round of 16 is spread over four mid-weeks. First-leg games are scheduled Februaty 16-17 or 23-24; return games on March 9-10 or 16-17.

The final is scheduled May 29 at the Olympic Stadium in Istanbul.

Published in Dawn, December 15th, 2020