The Champions League spherical of 16 begins on Tuesday (March 10, 2026) with blockbuster rematches, groups ending lengthy absences from this stage and the feelgood story of newcomer Bodø/Glimt.
Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday (March 11, 2026) hosts a Chelsea crew which last July stopped the Champions League winner including the Club World Cup title.
Real Madrid hosts Manchester City for the second time this season and the fifth straight 12 months within the knockout rounds. In three of these years, the winner went on to elevate the trophy.
Madrid-Man City is also one in every of three spherical of 16 pairings that already performed a couple of months in the past within the opening league section.
Back in September, Galatasaray beat Liverpool in Istanbul and Barcelona left Newcastle with all three factors.
Galatasaray and Newcastle are enjoying Champions League video games in March for the primary time in, respectively, 12 and 23 years. Atalanta hosts Bayern Munich 5 years since last reaching the spherical of 16.
Bodø/Glimt has ended Norway’s 29-year wait to be represented this deep within the competitors, when Rosenborg superior to the quarterfinals from a smaller 16-team group stage.
Bodø/Glimt now hosts Sporting Lisbon on its synthetic turf area contained in the Arctic Circle the place Man City and Inter Milan each had been crushed 3-1 in current months.
The forecast temperature at kickoff is 3 Celsius (37 Fahrenheit) within the Norwegian Sea fishing city.
Mbappé vs. Haaland?
Pep Guardiola’s crew already received on the Santiago Bernabéu stadium in December. Erling Haaland’s penalty earlier than half time settled a 2-1 win as Madrid’s celebrity ahead Kylian Mbappé stayed on the bench.
Mbappé is a doubt once more for Wednesday due to a pressure damage in his left knee.
(*16*) Madrid coach Álvaro Arbeloa stated last week. “Right now, it’s all good news.” There are simply six days between the primary leg and the return sport in Manchester, although Mbappé and Haaland have one other probability to fulfill this season.
At the World Cup, France performs Norway within the last spherical of Group I video games June 26 on the New England Patriots’ stadium close to Boston.
Champions duel
PSG vs. Chelsea has the texture of a real Champions League rivalry although it’s 10 years since they met within the competitors.
That was additionally within the spherical of 16 when the coaches in 2016 had been Laurent Blanc and Guus Hiddink respectively. A PSG crew that includes Zlatan Ibrahimovic received residence and away in what was the third straight 12 months the golf equipment met within the knockout section.
Their most up-to-date assembly eight months in the past was a shock 3-0 win for Chelsea — then coached by Enzo Maresca — at MetLife Stadium close to New York impressed by Cole Palmer.
Chelsea’s coach is now Liam Rosenior who began the season as a French league rival of PSG at Strasbourg.
European last historical past
Just one of many eight pairings this week is a rematch of any UEFA last because the European Cup began in 1955. Few will recollect it.
The 1963 European Cup-Winners’ Cup last was a 5-1 win for Tottenham over Atletico Madrid performed in Rotterdam. It can also be the one time they beforehand met.
There is a few familiarity for Tottenham as a result of Atletico’s Metropolitano stadium is the place the North London membership misplaced the 2019 Champions League last in opposition to Liverpool.
Atletico received simply one in every of its last 10 UEFA competitors matches in opposition to English opponents, although on Tuesday (March 10, 2026) hosts the Sixteenth-place crew within the Premier League having a chaotic season.
Tottenham’s interim coach Igor Tudor is the membership’s twelfth totally different full- or part-time rent since Atletico obtained Diego Simeone greater than 14 years in the past.
Unlucky high spot?
Finishing high within the 36-team standings didn’t work out one 12 months in the past for Liverpool, which was eradicated within the spherical of 16 by PSG.
Arsenal led the way in which this time because the top-seeded crew paired within the bracket with Sixteenth-seeded Bayer Leverkusen, which hosts the primary leg Wednesday. The lowest-ranked crew left within the competitors is Bodø/Glimt, which squeezed into the knockout playoffs in twenty third place.
