The starts Tuesday with blockbuster rematches, teams ending long absences from this stage and the .
Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday hosts a stopped the adding the Club World Cup title.
Real Madrid hosts Manchester City for the second time this season and the fifth straight year in the knockout rounds. In three of those years, the winner went on to lift the trophy.
Madrid-Man City also is one of three round of 16 pairings that already played a few months ago in the opening league phase.
Back in September, Galatasaray beat Liverpool in Istanbul and with all three points.
Galatasaray and Newcastle are playing Champions League games in March for the first time in, respectively, 12 and 23 years. Atalanta hosts Bayern Munich five years since last reaching the round of 16.
Bod酶/Glimt has ended Norway鈥檚 29-year wait to be represented this deep in the competition, when Rosenborg advanced to the quarterfinals from a smaller 16-team group stage.
Bod酶/Glimt now hosts Sporting Lisbon on its artificial turf field inside the Arctic Circle where and both were beaten 3-1 in recent months.
The forecast temperature at kickoff is 3 Celsius (37 Fahrenheit) in the Norwegian Sea fishing town.
Mbapp茅 vs. Haaland?
Pep Guardiola鈥檚 team already won at the Santiago Bernab茅u stadium in December. Erling Haaland鈥檚 penalty before half time settled as Madrid鈥檚 superstar forward Kylian Mbapp茅 stayed on the bench.
Mbapp茅 is a doubt again for Wednesday because of a strain injury in his left knee.
鈥淚t鈥檚 under control, every day he鈥檚 better,鈥� Madrid coach 脕lvaro Arbeloa said last week. 鈥淩ight now, it鈥檚 all good news.鈥�
There are just six days between the first leg and the return game in Manchester, though Mbapp茅 and Haaland have another chance to meet this season.
At the World Cup, France plays Norway in the final round of Group I games June 26 at the New England Patriots鈥� stadium near Boston.
Champions duel
PSG vs. Chelsea has the feel of a true Champions League rivalry though it is 10 years since they met in the competition.
That was also in the round of 16 when the coaches in 2016 were Laurent Blanc and Guus Hiddink respectively. A PSG team featuring Zlatan Ibrahimovi膰 won home and away in what was the third straight year the clubs met in the knockout phase.
Their most recent meeting eight months ago was a surprise 3-0 win for Chelsea 鈥� then coached by Enzo Maresca 鈥� at MetLife Stadium near New York inspired by
Chelsea鈥檚 coach is now who started the season as a French league rival of PSG at Strasbourg.
European final history
Just one of the eight pairings this week is a rematch of any UEFA final since the European Cup started in 1955. Few will recall it.
The 1963 European Cup-Winners鈥� Cup final was a 5-1 win for Tottenham over Atletico Madrid played in Rotterdam. It is also the only time they previously met.
There is some familiarity for Tottenham because Atletico鈥檚 Metropolitano stadium is where the North London club against Liverpool.
Atletico won just one of its last 10 UEFA competition matches against English opponents, though on Tuesday hosts the 16th-place team in the Premier League having a chaotic season.
罢辞迟迟别苍丑补尘鈥檚 is the club鈥檚 12th different full- or part-time hire since Atletico got Diego Simeone more than 14 years ago.
Unlucky top spot?
Finishing top in the did not work out one year ago for Liverpool, which was
Arsenal led the way this time as the top-seeded team paired in the bracket with 16th-seeded Bayer Leverkusen, which hosts the first leg Wednesday. The lowest-ranked team left in the competition is Bod酶/Glimt, which squeezed into the knockout playoffs in 23rd place.
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