European teams will compete for the 2023-24 UEFA Champions League trophy through the June 1 final in London. Photo by Salvatore Di Nolfi/EPA-EFE
Barcelona-Napoli, Real Madrid-Leipzig and Manchester City-Copenhagen were among the matchups drawn for the Round of 16 for the 2023-24 Champions League soccer tournament, UEFA announced Monday.
The European tournament organizers drew the teams during a ceremony at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. First-leg Round of 16 matchups will be held Feb. 13, 14, 20 and 21. Second-leg matches will be held March 5, 6, 12 and 13. Advertisement
The winners from the matchups will advance to the quarterfinals, which will be held in mid-April.
Manchester City, the defending champions, will battle Copenhagen in the first leg in Copenhagen. The Sky Blues will then host their Danish Superliga foes in Manchester, England.
“We have to take it seriously and respect what they have done,” Sky Blues director of football Txiki Begiristain said on the team website. “They have something very good.”
Barcelona will face Napoli in the first leg in Naples, Italy. The Spanish La Liga power will host their Italian Serie A foes in the second leg.
Fellow La Liga squad Real Madrid, who owns a record 14 Champions League titles, will battle Leipzig of Germany’s Bundesliga in the first leg in Leipzig, Germany. Madrid will then host Leipzig in the second leg. Advertisement
Paris Saint-Germain, of France’s Ligue 1, will host La Liga’s Real Sociedad in a first-leg match in Paris. The second leg will be in San Sebastian, Spain.
La Liga’s Atletico Madrid will first face Serie A’s Inter Milan in Milan and host the finale in Madrid.
The Bundesliga’s Borussia Dortmund will meet Dutch Eredivisie squad PSV Eindhoven for the first leg in Eindhoven in the Netherlands and host the finale in Dortmund, Germany.
Fellow Bundesliga team Bayern Munich will face Serie A’s Lazio in the first leg in Rome and host the second leg in Munich.
Arsenal, of England’s Premier League, will face Porto of Portugal’s Primeira Liga in the first leg in Porto. The Gunners will host Porto in the second leg in London.
Official match dates and times will be announced later.
The Manchester City Sky Blues, who won the treble with Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup titles last season, are favored to repeat as champions.
Champions League games will air on Paramount+ and CBS.
The Champions League quarterfinal and semifinal draw will be held March 15 in Nyon. The quarterfinals will be held April 9, 10, 16 and 17. The semifinals will be April 30, May 1, 7 and 8. Advertisement
The final will be held June 1 at Wembley Stadium in London.
