FOOTBALL NEWS - Two of Europe's big guns come face to face at the Santiago Bernabéu in the round of 16 as Real Madrid CF's bid to win three Uefa Champions League titles in a row comes under threat from Paris Saint-Germain.
Madrid finished second to Tottenham Hotspur FC in Group H – the second year running they have been runners-up in their section – while Paris won their first five Group B games to top the standings ahead of FC Bayern München.
However, while the Spanish side have got to the semifinals or better in each of the last seven seasons, Paris will need no reminding of their remarkable exit at this stage at the hands of FC Barcelona 12 months ago – their most recent tie against Spanish opponents.
Previous meetings
The teams last met in the 2015/16 group stage, when a 0-0 draw in Paris preceded a 1-0 Real Madrid win in Spain,
Nacho scoring the only goal in the 35th minute having come on only two minutes earlier. That helped the Merengues to finish first in the section, three points ahead of their French rivals.
• The line-ups at the Santiago Bernabéu on 3 November 2015 were:
Madrid: Navas, Danilo, Ramos, Varane, Marcelo (Nacho 33), Modric, Casemiro, Kroos, Jesé (Vázquez 63), Ronaldo, Isco (Kovacic 82).
Paris: Trapp, Aurier, Thiago Silva, David Luiz, Maxwell, Verratti (Rabiot 17), Motta, Matuidi (Lucas 75), Di María, Ibrahimovic, Cavani.
• Paris knocked Madrid out of Europe two years in a row: in the 1992/93 Uefa Cup quarterfinals (1-3 a, 4-1 h), and in the 1993/94 European Cup Winners' Cup quarterfinals (1-0 a, 1-1 h).
• On 3 March 1994 George Weah scored in the first half to win the first leg for Artur Jorge's Paris against Vicente del Bosque's Madrid, the Spanish side's sole home defeat against a French club.
