The UEFA Champions League draw took place today, Friday, Feb 27, at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. Real Madrid qualified for the Round of 16 by beating Benfica in the playoffs, and their next opponent has now been confirmed.
Real Madrid Handled Tricky Draw in the UEFA Champions League
Real Madrid have faced Manchester City in the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League in each of the last four seasons. The draw today has made it five in a row, as the two sides are set to face off in the Round of 16.
Los Blancos will host the first leg of the tie at the Santiago Bernabéu, as they finished lower in the group stage. The match is set for Tuesday, March 10, with the return leg at the Etihad on Wednesday, March 18.
🆚 Nuestro rival será el @ManCityES.
⚽ @adidasfootball pic.twitter.com/XUwcyNoaPs— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) February 27, 2026
The road to the final is going to be a tricky one for Los Blancos, as beating Manchester City would put them in a quarterfinal clash against Bayern Munich or Atalanta. The semifinal would be against PSG, Chelsea, Liverpool, or Galatasaray – as the Spanish giants ended up on the tough side of the draw.
The Round of 16 draw would not come as a surprise for goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who predicted the meeting earlier this week. He wanted to face Sporting CP, but was sure that they would get the Premier League side once again and said:
“We know that we will get Manchester City on Friday. It’s the dream lottery match. I haven’t played Sporting CP since 2015 with Chelsea. We’ll see if for once, it doesn’t fall like that.”
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Aurélien Tchouaméni was also of the same opinion, as he wanted to face Sporting CP this season. He claimed that the trip to Portugal was easier and shorter than traveling to England once again and said after the Benfica win:
“Surely the trip to Lisbon is better than the trip to Manchester because it’s shorter, but in the end it doesn’t matter. I think if we want to win this competition we have to play against everyone, against the best teams, and it doesn’t matter who we play against. We have to show our best version.”
Real Madrid and Manchester City have met 15 times, with each side winning 5 and the rest ending in draws. Their most recent meeting was in the league phase earlier this season, when the Cityzens won 2-1 at Santiago Bernabeu in December.
In the last four knockout stage clashes, Manchester City have advanced once, while Real Madrid have gone through three times, including a 6-3 aggregate win last season.
