Manchester City finished inside the top eight of the UEFAChampions League****and their reward is a two-legged Round of 16 tie against Spanish giants Real Madrid.
City avoided the Playoff Round, where Real Madrid edged past Benfica over two legs.
Like **Pep Guardiola's**side, Madrid are second in their domestic league and come into this tie on the back of a 2-1 win over Celta Vigo at the weekend.
City, meanwhile, progressed to the Quarter Finals of the FA Cup at the weekend with a 3-1 win at Newcastle United.
Familiar faces?
These two have been drawn against each other in the Champions League in each of the last five seasons.
Since September 2012, they have met sixteen times, and there has been little between them, with twelve of the games ending level or decided by a single goal.
City have won six to Madrid’s five, with five draws.
They even met in the league phase earlier in this campaign, with City winning 2-1 at the Bernabeu. They may be able to take confidence from that result when they arrive in Spain this week.
Last season, Real advanced from the two-legged Playoff round and in the 2023/24 season, there was little to separate the sides, with the Spanish side winning on penalties at the quarter-final stage.
They met in the Semi-Finals for two consecutive seasons in 2022/23 and 2021/22, with City winning convincingly in 2023 and Madrid progressing the year before.
City still on the hunt for silverware?
Last week's draw in the Premier League with Nottingham Forest has handed the advantage back to Arsenal in the Premier League title race, but City are very much still in that race.
They meet the Gunners in the League Cup final at the end of this month, they remain in the FA Cup, and they will, of course, be looking to progress in Europe.
The winner of the Real Madrid ties will face either **Atalanta**or Bayern Munich in the next round, so City will have a tough route towards a potential European final.
However, they have experience of winning games, and after ending last season without a trophy, they will be keen to secure silverware this time.
They will also likely want to build on the win earlier in the season at the Bernabeu and demonstrate to their Spanish opponents that they have improved from last season, when Real Madrid knocked them out in the Playoff round.
Key players to return?
Competing in several competitions means extra games and the possibility of fixture congestion throughout the season.
However, the FA Cup game on Saturday allowed Guardiola to rest several key players and his side were still able to get the job done with the win.
Erling Haaland missed the league game at Leeds United and the cup game. He did start against Nottingham Forest but had a difficult evening.
There is hope that he will be back to his best, fit and available from the start ahead of the trip to the continent.
The Norwegian has struggled for goals at times in recent weeks, compared to the standards that he has set in seasons gone by. However, he remains a key player and one who could really cause the Madrid defenders problems with his pace and physicality.
When the sides met in December, Haaland scored what proved to be the winner with a successful penalty.
Always a big game
City against Real Madrid always has the potential to excite. It is arguably one of the standout ties of the round, and the sides could, once again, be evenly matched.
One of the top sides will exit the competition at this stage, and the other could gain confidence ahead of the rest of the tournament.
For City, a win in this tie could provide some momentum ahead of their league campaign and the rest of the season.
City have the advantage of a home second leg. They do not need to go all out to win the match in Spain, but they will want to return with a positive result.