Arsenal and Manchester City await their Champions League quarter-final fate this morning, and in truth both Premier League title contenders will be keen to avoid each other.
Playing English opposition dilutes some of the novelty and glamour of European competition, and Arsenal and City also play each other in the league on March 31st, around 10 days before the Champions League quarter-final first leg.
City are favourites to retain the trophy, and cruised through their last-16 tie against Copenhagen. Things were more stressful for Arsenal as they required penalties to get beyond Porto and reach a first Champions League quarter-final since 2010.
Real Madrid are likely to be City and Arsenal’s stiffest opposition, with an attack lead by Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior, but they toiled against RB Leipzig and are still waiting for key personnel such as Thibaut Courtois and Eder Militao to return from long-term injuries.
Barcelona and Bayern Munich appear vulnerable, although there is the prospect of Harry Kane returning to England to haunt either the club who tried to sign him or his former north London rivals.
PSG continue their quest to win the Champions League, and have arguably the world’s best player in Kylian Mbappe, but they have habitually disappointed in the knockout stages.
Borussia Dortmund are probably the weakest team left in the competition, while it was a surprise to see last year’s finalists and runaway Serie A leaders Inter knocked out by Atletico Madrid.
The group stage and last-16 draws were pretty cushy for City and Arsenal; you wonder if something nastier is waiting around the corner.
We will also have updates from the Europa League draw which follows, with Liverpool and West Ham in the hat. As reported by Jeremy Wilson, Man Utd fans find themselves in the strange situation of needing the English clubs to succeed in Europe to secure the extra Champions League place.