Soccer Football - Champions League - Round of 16 Draw - Nyon, Switzerland - December 18, 2023 The Champions League trophy is displayed with the round of 16 draw REUTERS/Pierre Albouy
NYON, Switzerland (Reuters) -Holders Manchester City will take on FC Copenhagen in the last 16 of the Champions League while Spanish heavyweights Barcelona will face Napoli as Monday's draw in Nyon threw up few standout encounters.
Copenhagen, who twice met City's rivals Manchester United in the group stage of the competition, will travel to Manchester again to face Pep Guardiola's side.
The Danish team will have their work cut out against the champions, who won all six of their group stage matches and are on an unbeaten run of 20 games in European football.
"In the group phase they played against Bayern Munich, Galatasaray and Manchester United and they went through. They were the second-best team in the group so it means a lot," said City's Director of Football Txiki Begiristain.
"They have been better than Manchester United and Galatasaray, two clubs with a much more experience in the Champions League than them. So we have to be careful."
One of either the Serie A or LaLiga champions Napoli and Barcelona will not proceed after being pitted against each other.
The two teams last faced each other in the Europa League knockout stage in 2022, with Barcelona winning 5-3 on aggregate.
"There is still time to go but they are league champions, like we are, and I believe we will see two tough games," Barcelona's sporting director Deco said.
Another clash between Italian and Spanish sides will see last year's finalists Inter Milan take on three-times runners-up Atletico Madrid.
"Atletico have played two finals in the last 10 years and have a great history in this competition, our club is no different and we want to try to dream again to give our fans further joy," Inter coach Simone Inzaghi said.
Record 14-times winners Real Madrid will take on German side RB Leipzig, while English Premier League leaders Arsenal have a tricky assignment against Porto.
Arsenal have won all three of their previous Champions League home matches against Porto by an aggregate score of 11-0, but have not beaten the two-times champions away.
Harry Kane-led Bayern Munich face Italy's Lazio, while Borussia Dortmund will be reunited with former manager Peter Bosz when they take on Dutch leaders PSV Eindhoven.
"PSV Eindhoven is an attractive and challenging draw. At the moment Eindhoven is the measure of all things in the Netherlands," said Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl.
French champions Paris St Germain, who scraped through a difficult group stage, come up against Spain's Real Sociedad as they continue their hunt for a first-ever European Cup.
DRAW IN FULL
Arsenal v FC Porto
Barcelona v Napoli
Real Sociedad v Paris St Germain
Atletico Madrid v Inter Milan
Borussia Dortmund v PSV Eindhoven
Bayern Munich v Lazio
Manchester City v FC Copenhagen
Real Madrid v RB Leipzig
LAST 16 DATES
First leg: Feb. 13-14 and Feb. 20-21
Second leg: March 5-6 and March 12-13
Seeded teams (named first) will play the second leg at home
(Reporting by Aadi Nair, additional reporting by Trevor Stynes;Editing by Christian Radnedge)
