The next phase towards European glory awaits

THE two-month wait for the knockout stages of European football's premier club competition - the Uefa Champions League (UCL) - is almost over, with the first of the two-legged ties in the round-of-16 taking place across the coming fortnight (Feb 13-21).

This stage of the competition will see eight former winners, with more than half of all UCL titles between them.

The round-of-16 draw, which took place at Uefa's headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland on Dec 11 threw up intriguing clashes between the best teams in Europe, which are sure to garner a lot of fanfare. But of the lot, one particular fixture stands out: the one between defending back-to-back UCL champions Real Madrid and ambitious French nouveau powerhouse Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) on Feb 14. After all, it is Cristiano Ronaldo versus Neymar and the two will be among the many top stars who will be headlining the most expensive slugfest in football. The clash potentially offers much to the neutral. With PSG firing on all cylinders in Ligue 1 and Real Madrid faltering of late in Spain's La Liga, it has all the makings of a classic.