The UEFA Champions League delivered one of its most anticipated moments of the season on Friday, February 27, as the round of 16 draw in Nyon, Switzerland, produced a slate of blockbuster matchups that promises fireworks when the action resumes in March.

The headline fixture pairs Real Madrid against Manchester City, a repeat of recent Champions League classics that have produced some of the competition's most memorable moments in recent years. The defending champions will host the first leg at the Santiago Bernabeu on March 10 or 11, with the return leg in Manchester a week later.

Equally enticing is the clash between Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea, bringing together two clubs backed by enormous financial power and brimming with individual talent. Galatasaray, fresh off a remarkable 5-2 first-leg demolition of Juventus in the playoff round, will face Liverpool, while Atalanta earned a meeting with Bayern Munich. Newcastle United drew Barcelona, Atletico Madrid will take on Tottenham Hotspur, Bayer Leverkusen face Arsenal, and Norwegian underdogs Bodo/Glimt were paired with Sporting CP.

The draw caps off a knockout playoff round that will live long in the memory, none more so than the extraordinary encounter between Atalanta and Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday, February 25. Trailing 2-0 from the first leg in Germany, Atalanta needed a miracle at the Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo, and they produced one for the ages.

Gianluca Scamacca opened the scoring in just the fifth minute to ignite the home crowd, before Davide Zappacosta doubled the lead right before halftime. Mario Pasalic made it 3-0 on the night and 3-2 on aggregate in the 57th minute, putting the Italians ahead in the tie for the first time. Karim Adeyemi pulled one back for Dortmund in the 75th minute, and with the aggregate score level at 3-3, extra time appeared inevitable.

Then came one of the most dramatic finishes in Champions League history. Deep into the eighth minute of stoppage time, well beyond the three minutes originally allotted, Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel made a costly error that allowed Atalanta to launch one final attack. A cross into the penalty area was heading toward substitute Nikola Krstovic when Dortmund defender Ramy Bensebaini flicked out his boot and struck the Atalanta forward on the head, drawing blood.

After a lengthy VAR review, referee awarded a penalty and showed Bensebaini a second yellow card, reducing Dortmund to ten men for the final seconds. Lazar Samardzic stepped up and sent a brilliant penalty into the top corner, sparking scenes of pure ecstasy inside the stadium. The 4-1 victory on the night sealed a 4-3 aggregate triumph, sending Atalanta into the last 16 for the first time since the 2020-21 season.

Elsewhere in the playoff round, Atletico Madrid cruised past Club Brugge 4-1 in the second leg for a commanding 7-4 aggregate victory, Newcastle United dispatched Qarabag 3-2 to progress 9-3 on aggregate, and PSG confirmed their place with a 3-2 first-leg win over Monaco.

The round of 16 first legs are scheduled for March 10 and 11, with the return fixtures on March 17 and 18. With matchups of this caliber, the road to the Champions League final promises to be nothing short of spectacular.