The UEFA Champions League Knockout Phase gets underway in the midweek of 11-12 February 2025, with the headline clash pitting Manchester City against Real Madrid.
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The Citizens and Los Blancos – who will meet in the first leg of their playoff tie at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday night – would have expected to finish in the top eight of the League Phase and skip this round altogether.
Instead, they will have a heavyweight showdown in which it is guaranteed that one of the last two winners of the Champions League will be eliminated.
“We don’t like to play against City, but if we have to, we’ll do it like on other occasions,” said Real manager Carlo Ancelotti, referring to the teams having played each other in the knockout stages for the past three seasons running (2-1 to the Spanish club in terms of ties won in that sequence).
“It looks like a derby already, four years in a row facing Madrid,” noted City boss Pep Guardiola. Madrid or Bayern, both were really tough, hopefully we can arrive in the first leg here and the next one in Madrid as best as possible.”
City could have been drawn against Bayern Munich, but instead the German heavyweights will throw down against Scottish champions Celtic in Glasgow for the pick of matches on Wednesday evening.
Celtic Park will be rocking for the visit of the Bavarian, with manager Brendan Rodgers looking forward to the challenge: “It’s brilliant. We’ve earned to get to the playoff stage,” said the Nothern Irishman.
“The players have been outstanding over the eight games and that qualifies us to play one of these top teams so we’ll look forward to that when it comes. We’ve played Bayern Munich before in my time (2017). We had a really good game at home, played very well and could have got something from the game.
“We have improved. The key message for me this season, and what we wanted to see, was progress and there’s no doubt that the team has progressed over the course of the competition.”
The playoffs will also feature an all-French battle between Brest and Paris Saint-Germain; Juventus will face Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven; Sporting CP will be out to claim the scalp of last season’s Champions League runners-up, Borussia Dortmund; AC Milan face a tricky challenge against Feyenoord; Atalanta will back themselves to overcome Club Brugge; and Benfica will look to overcome Monaco.
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Broadcast details
Tuesday 11 February
19:00: Goals Show – LIVE on SuperSport Events
19:45: Brest v Paris Saint-Germain – LIVE on SuperSport Football plus Ch 222
22:00: Manchester City v Real Madrid – LIVE on SuperSport Football Plus
22:00: Juventus v PSV Eindhoven – LIVE on SuperSport Premier League
22:00: Sporting CP v Borussia Dortmund – LIVE on SuperSport PSL Ch 202
Wednesday 12 February
19:00: Goals Show – LIVE on SuperSport Events Ch 199
19:45: Club Brugge v Atalanta – LIVE on SuperSport Football Plus Ch 222
22:00: Feyenoord v AC Milan – LIVE on SuperSport Football Ch 225
22:00: Celtic v Bayern Munich – LIVE on SuperSport Football Plus Ch 222
