The Manchester clubs were rewarded for winning easy groups with easy Round of 16 foes while three other matchups pit championship contenders against each other in the Champions League draw announced Monday. Real Madrid faces Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea takes on Barcelona and Tottenham drew Juventus.
For all the attacking talent on display in the Manchester Derby, defensive blunders decided the outcome between Manchester United and Manchester City at Old Trafford on Sunday. And when the snow settled, City defeated United 2-1 to set the English Premier League record for consecutive wins at 14.
Since the Champions League went from using a second group stage to a 16-team knockout tournament in 2003-04, no league had ever qualified five teams for the knockout rounds — until now. With Liverpool’s 7-0 destruction of Spartak Moscow on Wednesday, the English Premier League officially placed five clubs into the Champions League Round of 16 in what is a remarkable turnaround for the league. Kind of.