\n
MANCHESTER, England (AP) \u2014 Real Madrid is Immediate rematch with Benfica<\/span> After both teams were drawn in the Champions League playoffs on Friday. <\/p>\nBenfica defeated Madrid 4-2 on Wednesday, denying the 15-time European champions a direct place in the round of 16 and forcing uncertainty into the play-offs. <\/p>\n
Defending champions Paris Saint-Germain will also have to follow that path and face Monaco in an all-French showdown. And this season’s surprise package, a small Norwegian team Bodo\/Glimt<\/span>will face last year’s finalists, Inter Milan. <\/p>\nThe winner of the two-legged play-off will advance to the round of 16, where Madrid could face Manchester City again. <\/p>\n
Mourinho returns to Bernabeu<\/h2>\n
The draw means former Madrid manager Jose Mourinho will return to the Bernab\u00e9u with Benfica after a stunning win in the final league match, which included a goal from goalkeeper Anatoly Trubin in the eighth minute of stoppage time.<\/p>\n
Benfica were leading 3-2 after 90 minutes and needed one more point to qualify for the play-offs on goal difference. Ukrainian keeper Trubin pulled it off in the most dramatic fashion when he scored the decisive goal with his head. <\/p>\n
With the loss, Madrid, who had started the game in third place, dropped out of the top eight, which would allow them to advance directly to the round of 16. <\/p>\n
It will be a chance for Mourinho, a two-time Champions League winner, to inflict further pain on his former club, who sacked Xabi Alonso last month and are looking to rebuild their season with manager Alvaro Arbeloa. <\/p>\n
PSG, Won the Champions League in such thrilling style<\/span> They will have to go a long way to defend the trophy last season. In the French league, they will face a team from Monaco, which is in 9th place and 21 points below. <\/p>\nPSG also advanced to the playoffs with their victory last year. <\/p>\n
Bod\u00f8\/Glimt have been the talk of the competition so far this season after back-to-back upsets against Manchester City and Atletico Madrid to reach the play-offs on their first appearance in European club football’s biggest competition. And that would be a huge threat to Inter’s hopes of progress. <\/p>\n
champions league playoff draw<\/h2>\n
Benfica vs Real Madrid<\/p>\n
Bod\u00f8\/Glimt vs. Inter Milan<\/p>\n
Monaco vs Paris Saint-Germain<\/p>\n
Qarabag vs. Newcastle<\/p>\n
Galatasaray vs Juventus<\/p>\n
Brugge vs Atletico Madrid<\/p>\n
Borussia Dortmund vs Atalanta<\/p>\n
Olympiacos vs Bayer Leverkusen<\/p>\n
When are the playoffs held?<\/h2>\n
The first leg will take place from February 17th to 18th.<\/p>\n
The second leg will take place on February 24-25.<\/p>\n
Team automatically qualifies for Round of 16<\/h2>\n
Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Tottenham, Barcelona, \u200b\u200bChelsea, Sporting Lisbon, Manchester City.<\/p>\n
europe league draw<\/h2>\n
This season’s Europa League final will be held in Istanbul, but Nottingham Forest will head to the Turkish city early after drawing with Fenerbahce in the play-off round. Scottish champions Celtic will face Germany’s Stuttgart, while Spain’s Celta Vigo will face Greece’s PAOK and France’s Lille will face Serbia’s Red Star Belgrade. <\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
James Robson is https:\/\/x.com\/James Saran Robson<\/span><\/p>\n___<\/p>\n
AP Soccer: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/soccer<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MANCHESTER, England (AP) \u2014 Real Madrid is Immediate rematch with Benfica After both teams were drawn in the Champions League playoffs on Friday. Benfica defeated Madrid 4-2 on Wednesday, denying the 15-time European champions a direct place in the round of 16 and forcing uncertainty into the play-offs. Defending champions Paris Saint-Germain will also have<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22026,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-22025","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer"},"yoast_head":"\n
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