(Football news) The defending champions of UCL easily won Group G, finishing with a perfect record of 18 points from six games. They were then dealt a rather fortunate draw to face the winners of Group A in the round of 16.

In their area, Copenhagen finished ahead of Galatasaray and Manchester United. They will play the first leg at home against Man City and then go to the Etihad to play the second leg a week later in February.

After facing off in the group stage of the previous season, where Pep Guardiola’s team won 5-0 at home before drawing goalless in Scandinavia, the two clubs will reunite in the knockout stage.

Arsenal was the second team eliminated from the draw on Monday, and Man City was one of just two English teams to go to the round of 16. The Gunners will take on Porto in their first elite UCL knockout match in seven years.

With 13 points from a possible 18, Mikel Arteta’s team defeated Lens, PSV Eindhoven, and Sevilla to take the lead in Group A. Meanwhile, Porto lost out to Barcelona in Group H due to a poorer head-to-head record.

In addition to facing off in the group stages of the 2006–07 and 2008–09 campaigns, Arsenal and Porto were last paired in the 2009–10 playoffs, where the Gunners prevailed 5-0 at the Emirates after suffering a 2-1 defeat in Portugal to reach the round of eight.

In other action, Group E champions Atletico Madrid, whom Inter Milan fell to 2-0 in the 2010 UEFA Super Cup, will take on an intriguing matchup with last year’s defeated finalists Inter Milan, who finished second in Group D.

Real Madrid, the 14-time champions who also won all six of their group matches, will play RB Leipzig. This matchup will bring the two German powerhouses back together after they split the group stage of the 2022–23 season with one victory each.

Bayern Munich, another Bundesliga representative from Leipzig, will take against Lazio, a team they thrashed 6-2 on aggregate in the 2020–21 last 16—the only prior competitive meeting between the two teams.

As the winners of Group H, Barcelona will face Italian champions Napoli in a two-leg match. Napoli has never defeated the Blaugrana in four prior meetings, most recently losing to them in the Europa League knockout phase playoffs in 2021–2022.

Last but not least, PSV Eindhoven and Borussia Dortmund will reconnect 21 years after their first two matches in the 2002–03 group stage, and Paris Saint-Germain will play Real Sociedad for the first time in a competitive context.

The first two legs of the round of 16 will be held on February 13 and 14, with the return matches taking place on February 20 and 21.

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