Manchester City and Manchester United will each this morning discover their opponents for the last-16 of the UEFA Champions League when the draw is made in Nyon.
Heading into their final group matches last week, both City and United had secured their places in the first knockout phase of the competition, meaning their respective showdowns with RB Leipzig and Young Boys had little resting on them.
City lost 2-1 to Leipzig in Germany and United played out a low-key 1-1 draw with Young Boys at Old Trafford, with both Pep Guardiola and Ralf Rangnick opting to rotate their respective squads ahead of the weekend's Premier League action.
Nevertheless, both sides progressed as group winners, meaning they find themselves on the favourable side of the draw.
At this stage of the competition, the eight group winners are drawn against the eight runners-up, but clubs from the same country and those that have faced each other in the group stages cannot be drawn against each other. For example, United cannot be drawn against Chelsea and City will not be forced to go toe-to-toe with Paris Saint-Germain again.
However, there are still no shortage of big-name clubs that either City or United could both end up facing, including Atletico Madrid or Inter Milan, meaning both sides could face the prospect of navigating a big hurdle to reach the last-eight.
Liverpool are also on City's and United's side of the draw, meaning they could also come up against Atletico or Inter, plus PSG, as could United.
Chelsea, however, missed out on top spot in Group H in dramatic fashion last Wednesday evening, being held to a late 3-3 draw by Zenit St Petersburg, meaning Juventus won the group. Chelsea, who are the reigning Champions League holders, could now end up facing one of the likes of Bayern Munich or Real Madrid.
Therefore, the draw promises to throw up both some interesting and exciting ties, as the road to the final really begins to kick into life.
And that is exactly what happened when we ran a draw stimulation using our very own simulator.
MEN Sport has done a simulation ahead of the real draw and it has thrown up some exciting fixtures, including a battle between United and PSG.
That would prove to be a gigantic tie between two of Europe's biggest clubs if it was to come to fruition, especially when it would see United target Mauricio Pochettino visit Old Trafford and Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi go head-to-head.
Meanwhile, City would face a tie with Austrian outfit Red Bull Salzburg, who progressed to the last-16 as runners-up in Group G, after missing out on top spot by just one point.
Elsewhere, Chelsea would face the task of overcoming Real Madrid for the second season in succession in the competition and Liverpool would lock horns with Benfica.
Simulation in full:
Ajax vs Inter Milan
Manchester United vs Paris Saint-Germain
Lille vs Villarreal
Manchester City vs RB Salzburg
Bayern Munich vs Sporting Lisbon
Juventus vs Atletico Madrid
Real Madrid vs Chelsea
Liverpool vs Benfica
Ties in the last-16 are to be staged across two legs and the fixtures are scheduled to be played in February and March, with the first set of first-leg matches being staged on February 15 and 16.
Whoever, in reality, United end up facing in the last-16, interim manager Ralf Rangnick will be looking to lead the Reds to the quarter-finals of the competition for the first time since 2019, whilst City will be looking to progress to the last-eight for the fifth season in a row.
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