Football

Manchester City to face Atlético Madrid in last-16 of Women’s Champions League


Manchester City were handed a tricky tie in the Champions League last-16 draw, with Nick Cushing’s side set to face Spanish champions Atlético Madrid as Arsenal were paired with Slavia Prague .

City cruised past Swiss side Lugano 11-1 to reach the second knockout round but they will be out to make amends after the team whimpered out of the competition to Atlético in the round of 32 last season. Toni Duggan, who switched from Barcelona to the Spanish capital in the summer, will come up against her former club.

Atletico, though, are already slightly off pace in the league this season. The reigning champions sit a point behind Barcelona and Deportivo de la Coruña in first and second respectively, and suffered a bruising 6-1 defeat to Catalan club on 21 September. They have also struggled in the Champions League, the Spanish side needed a 90th-minute winner in the first leg against Serbian side Spartak Subotica, who came from two goals behind to level, and a late goal to salvage a draw in the second fixture.

Women’s Super League champions Arsenal managed to somewhat miraculously again avoid the likes of Lyon, Wolfsburg and Barcelona and will instead face Czech side Slavia. The Gunners overcame Italian league runners-up Fiorentina 6-0 over two legs in the last-16, their first European outing in over five years.

Arsenal were unseeded in the draw and initially came out of the pot against Manchester City but teams cannot face clubs from the same nation until the quarter-finals. With the ties played over the 16/17 and 30/31 October, Arsenal’s squad will be put to the test with the first leg falling after they play Chelsea away and the second leg following the visit of Manchester City to Borehamwood.

Glasgow City, who beat Russian team Chertanovo Moscow to reach the last-16, will play Danish champions Brøndby.

Champions League holder Lyon will also travel to Denmark to play Fortuna Hjørring. The French side put 16 past Russian team Ryazan-VDV in the previous round with Ada Hegerberg scoring five to put her within two of Anja Mittag’s record 51 goals in the competition.

Full Champions League draw: Glasgow City v Brøndby, Barcelona v FC Minsk, BIIK Kazygurt v Bayern Munich, Lyon v Fortuna Hjørring, PSG v Breioablik, Wolfsburg v Twente, Slavia Praha v Arsenal, Manchester City v Atlético Madrid



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