Champions League last-16 draw: Liverpool face PSG, Arsenal meet PSV Eindhoven & Aston Villa play Club Brugge
Holders Real Madrid – who knocked out Manchester City in the knockout phase play-offs – face local rivals Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich play Bayer Leverkusen in an all-Germany affair.
It will be the first time Liverpool have faced PSG since 2018-19, when the Reds went on to be crowned champions of Europe for the sixth time.
The winners of that tie will face Aston Villa or Club Brugge in the quarter-finals, while Arsenal will meet record 15-time winners Real Madrid or Atletico Madrid in the last eight – should they get past PSV.
The two-legged last 16 ties will be played on 4-5 March and 11-12 March.
Watch highlights of every Champions League game from 22:00 on Wednesday on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.
There will also be a Champions League Match of the Day on BBC One on Wednesday, from 22:40 to 00:00.
Commentaries of all three English teams will also be on BBC Radio 5 live and online.
Last-16 draw in full
Real Madrid v Atletico Madrid – First leg: 4 March (20:00 GMT), Second leg: 12 March (20:00 GMT)
Borussia Dortmund v Lille – First leg: 4 March (20:00 GMT), Second leg: 12 March (17:45 GMT)
PSV Eindhoven v Arsenal – First leg: 4 March (20:00 GMT), Second leg: 12 March (20:00 GMT)
Feyenoord v Inter Milan – First leg: 5 March (17:45 GMT), Second leg: 11 March (20:00 GMT)
Paris St-Germain v Liverpool – First leg: 5 March (20:00 GMT), Second leg: 11 March (20:00 GMT)
Bayern Munich v Bayer Leverkusen – First leg: 5 March (20:00 GMT), Second leg: 11 March (20:00 GMT)
Benfica v Barcelona – First leg: 5 March (20:00 GMT), Second leg: 11 March (17:45 GMT)
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Liverpool & Villa on European collision course
PSG looked to be heading out of the competition before a late run of form saw them finish 15th in the league phase.
They lost to Arsenal before defeating Manchester City to set up an all-France knockout phase play-off with Brest which they won 10-0 on aggregate.
PSG have Ousmane Dembele, one of the in-form goalscorers in Europe right now, with six goals in this season’s competition.
Liverpool have not won any of their past five away games against French clubs, since a Champions League victory against Marseille in 2008.
“At this stage of the competition, the quality of opponent is only going to be of a very high standard and in PSG we have drawn a team and a club with real European pedigree,” said Liverpool boss Arne Slot.
“They qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League in style earlier this week with a big win against Brest and they had some really good results in the league phase, defeating Stuttgart, Manchester City, Girona and Salzburg.”
If Liverpool get past Luis Enrique’s side, then they will face Premier League rivals Aston Villa in April as long as they see off defending Belgian champions Club Brugge, who finished 24th in the league phase before defeating Atalanta in the knockout phase play-offs.
However, Club Brugge beat Villa in the league phase, one of only two defeats suffered by Unai Emery’s side.
“I’m really happy because we are going to enjoy this moment with our supporters,” said Emery about the tie.
Arsenal’s opponents PSV Eindhoven are defending Dutch champions, who defeated an under-strength Liverpool side 3-2 in January on their way to finishing 14th in the league phase.
The Gunners have beaten PSV three times in the group stages of the Champions League, with their most recent victory a 4-0 home win last season.
“We know what we are facing,” said boss Mikel Arteta. “We’ve played against them, they’re a really good team. When you are at this stage every team is really good.”
‘Liverpool will be slightly disappointed’
I think Liverpool will be slightly disappointed to draw PSG; ideally they would have liked Benfica.
But if you are going to win the Champions League, you are going to have to beat some big teams along the way.
Liverpool will fancy their chances against PSG, who have been a little bit hit and miss.
Aston Villa will be happy with Club Brugge, and boss Unai Emery has been here before in this European competition.
Usually, he has success a lot more in the Europa League but in the Champions League he had that magnificent run with Villarreal [in the 2021-22 season], so we know he’s capable of balancing it.
How do countries earn an extra Champions League spot for next season?
Coefficient points are earned through match results – two for a win and one for a draw.
The points earned by clubs from the same domestic league are added up and divided by the number of clubs the league has in Europe.
For example, if the Premier League had 100 points, that would be split by the number of teams playing in Europe (seven), giving England a coefficient of 14.28.
This season, bonus points are available to clubs playing in the Champions League, which is advantageous to leagues with more clubs competing in it, such as Germany and Italy.
Countries that finish in the coefficient table’s top two earn an additional Champions League spot for the following season.
Those spots are awarded to the teams who finish in the first position below the standard Champions League allocation in those leagues.
In the Premier League, the top four clubs automatically qualify for the Champions League via league position, so any additional place would go to the team in fifth.
Additional spots for the 2024-25 Champions League were given to Bologna and Borussia Dortmund, who finished fifth in Serie A and the Bundesliga respectively.
Who is leading the coefficient table? Could England get a fifth Champions League spot?
However, Italy, who are second, endured a dismal time in February with AC Milan, Atalanta and Juventus all losing in the Champions League knockout play-off round – limiting Serie A’s opportunity to gather more points.
Germany’s prospects appear difficult with Bayern Munich and Dortmund in the same half of the Champions League draw.
Likewise France. Paris St-Germain and Lille are the representatives remaining in the Champions League, with Monaco and Brest exiting at the play-off stage. Lyon, in the Europa League, are the only other French side left in European competition.
Portugal has two of its five teams remaining but lost Sporting and Porto in the Champions League and Europa League play-offs.
What about the Europa League winners?
England could end up with seven Champions League teams next season.
The winners of the Europa League, as well as the Champions League, are granted a spot.
Under previous rules, any single league could only have a maximum of five clubs in the Champions League. However, that rule has been scrapped.
This season, any team who win the Europa League or Champions League but do not qualify for the Champions League via their domestic league position will go into the Champions League.
This raises the possibility of Manchester United or Tottenham, both through to the knockout stage of the Europa League but languishing in the bottom half of the Premier League, qualifying for the Champions League alongside the top four or five.
Watch highlights of every Champions League game from 22:00 on Wednesday on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.
There will also be a Champions League Match of the Day on BBC One on Wednesday, from 22:40 to 00:00.
