Paris Saint-Germain, the defending champions, will face Chelsea in the round of 16 of the Champions League, while a huge clash will pit Real Madrid against Manchester City, according to the draw held Friday in Nyon (Switzerland) at UEFA headquarters.

The first legs are scheduled for March 10 and 11 and the second legs for March 17 and 18.

With Chelsea, Paris will have the opportunity to avenge their defeat in the 2025 Club World Cup final (3-0), the only trophy that eluded them last season. The Blues, currently 5th in the Premier League, have had a difficult start to the campaign, leading to the dismissal of manager Enzo Maresca and his replacement by Liam Rosenior, who arrived from Strasbourg.

After a brief improvement, the Londoners have once again lost momentum, although they can count on their two strikers Estevao and Cole Palmer, who scored a brace against PSG last summer, to trouble the Parisians.

The task will nonetheless be complicated for the Parisian club, as PSG is far from dominant and is clearly suffering from a physical deficit after its extended 2024-2025 season, as evidenced by its hard-fought qualification in the playoffs against Monaco (3-2, 2-2). Furthermore, Paris will have to play the second leg in London, at Stamford Bridge.

The European champions will also be crossing their fingers to get their Ballon d'Or winner Ousmane Dembélé back very soon, who withdrew from Wednesday's match against Monaco due to a calf injury.

If they qualify, PSG will face the winner of the round of 16 match between Liverpool and Galatasaray in the quarter-finals (first leg 7 or 8 April, second leg 14 or 15 April).

The draw also produced a prestigious clash between Real Madrid and Pep Guardiola's Manchester City, with a potential duel between the two best strikers on the planet, Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland, looming large. Both players will thus be able to make their mark before the France-Norway match scheduled for the first round of the 2026 World Cup.

The other big teams are doing rather well, with Bayern Munich facing Atalanta Bergamo, the last Italian representative, FC Barcelona at Newcastle, and Arsenal at Bayer Leverkusen.