Real Madrid were the team that qualified for the play-offs after a tough draw with Benfica in the UEFA Champions League.
Real Madrid will have to face former manager Jose Mourinho again after drawing with Benfica in the UEFA Champions League play-off round, while reigning European champions Paris Saint-Germain will face domestic rivals Monaco.
In a dramatic finale to this year’s league campaign, Mourinho’s Benfica beat the Spanish giants 4-2 thanks to a last-minute header from the Portuguese club’s keeper Anatoly Trubin to book their place in the knockout stages.
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Real’s defeat cost them automatic qualification to the Round of 16 and forced them into an additional knockout phase.
The top eight teams in the league proceeded straight to the last 16, but the next 16 teams will undergo a two-legged playoff to qualify for that round.
UCL victory over Real Madrid sealed Benfica’s recent resurgence
Benfica were stuck in the bottom 12th place and were ultimately eliminated from the competition, but Trubin made a final gasp in 4th place, increasing the goal difference and moving them into the playoffs.
Portugal’s remarkable recovery and two-time play-off berth – finishing 24th, the last spot in the 36-team league – was capped not only by the loss to Real, but by winning three of their last four games after losing the opening four.
Mourinho, 63, returned to the Lisbon giants for his second spell as manager in September. He was Real’s manager from 2010 to 2013, winning one La Liga title, one Copa del Rey title, and reaching the Champions League semi-finals in each of his three seasons.
The two clubs faced each other in the 1962 European Cup final, and Benfica, who had defeated Barcelona the previous year, won 5-3 and achieved back-to-back championships.
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PSG lost just one of their last five league games, with a 1-1 draw against Newcastle United in their last game, dropping them out of the top eight as they finished in 11th place.
The Parisians will travel to Monaco for the first leg, but will be wary of the Principality team who beat them in Ligue 1 in November.
However, Monaco, a team that reached the Champions League final in 2004, has been sluggish with only one win in six games since the beginning of the year.
Monaco are 10th in Ligue 1, 21 points behind leaders PSG. However, a 0-0 draw with Juventus on Wednesday secured them a place in the European play-offs.
PSG also defeated their French opponents in the play-off round last season, beating Brest 10-0 on aggregate and lifting the trophy for the first time in their history.
Newcastle and Inter are play-off favorites, but Juventus and Atlético face a difficult task.
Elsewhere, Newcastle United will be favorites to take on surprise package Azerbaijan side Qarabagh in the first leg in Baku.
Bodo/Glimt, Norwegian champions in four of the past six years, were also surprise qualifiers for this stage and were rewarded with a draw with last season’s runners-up Inter Milan.
Juventus will face Galatasaray, while Atletico Madrid will face Club Brugge. Borussia Dortmund faced Atalanta, while Bayer Leverkusen drew with Olympiakos.
When will the Champions League playoffs take place?
A two-game playoff will be held in February, with the winner advancing to the last 16 in March.
When are the Champions League finals and finals played?
The two Round of 16 matches will be played on March 10-11 and March 17-18.
After the quarter-finals and semi-finals, this season’s Champions League final will be held at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, Hungary. The match will take place on May 30th.
