Champions League 2021: What to look out for in knockout stages

The Champions League is back, so here's what to look out for as the remaining 16 teams compete for the ultimate European prize!

Barcelona v Paris Saint-Germain

Two giants of European football will go head-to-head in the Champions League last 16.

Five-time winners Barcelona, face last year's losing finalists Paris Saint-Germain.

The first leg will be played on 16 February with the return game in Paris on 10 March, and both games should feature some of the world's greatest players including Kylian Mbappe, Neymar, Antoine Griezmann and Lionel Messi.

Things are about to get Messi

But could the man described as football's GOAT (greatest of all time) be facing the team he will be playing for next season?

Messi said that he wanted to leave Barcelona last summer, but ended up staying with the club he joined aged 12, to avoid going to court.

He's out of contract at the end of the season - meaning he can move clubs for free - and Messi hasn't made a final decision about his future.

There is speculation that Messi will join PSG in the summer

As speculation increases about Messi's next team - the magazine France Football published a mocked-up picture of Messi wearing a PSG shirt.

Barcelona say Messi being linked to other teams shows a lack of respect.

PSG forward Neymar wants Messi to join him and Mbappe in Paris

But PSG's star player Neymar, who moved to Paris from Barcelona three years ago, said: "What I want most is to play with [Messi] again, to be able to enjoy being on the pitch with him again.

"He could play in my place. He won't have any problems, I'm sure. I want to play with him again and I'm sure that, next season, we have to do it."

No Neymar

Brazil forward Neymar will miss the game against former team Barcelona

Sadly for Neymar there won't be a reunion with Messi as opponents on the pitch in the Champions League this season.

"The sadness is huge, the pain is immense, and the weeping is constant," Brazilian star Neymar wrote on his Instagram.

The PSG star is out for a month and could miss both matches against his former club.

The world's most expensive player has been linked back with a move to Barcelona, a club he left in 2017 for a record £198 million.

"Once again, for a while, I will stop doing what I love most in life, which is playing football.

"Sometimes I feel uncomfortable because of my style of play, because I dribble and constantly get fouled, I don't know if the problem is me or what I do on the pitch," said a frustrated Neymar.

Liverpool's last chance?

Liverpool's defence of their Premier League title has collapsed.

The Reds have lost their last three league games and manager Jurgen Klopp says any chance of winning the title again this season is over.

The team also lost in the FA Cup fourth round tie against their big rivals Manchester United.

That means the Champions League is their only chance of a trophy this season.

Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool won the Champions League in 2019, but are in bad form going into the last 16

But don't worry Liverpool fans, it's a competition that Liverpool has traditionally done well in having won it six times - that's more than any other club in England or Britain.

They face RB Leipzig in the first leg of their last 16 tie in the Champions League on Tuesday 16 February.

Home away from home

Coronavirus travel restrictions mean travellers from the UK are banned from entering Germany - so Liverpool's game against RB Leipzig is being played at a neutral venue; the Puskas Arena in Budapest.

There has also been disruption with upcoming Champions League ties involving Chelsea and Manchester City, as well as Europa League fixtures for Manchester United and Arsenal, who have all seen legs change location to neutral venues.

Chelsea

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel took PSG to the final of the Champions League last season

Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel says Spanish team Atletico Madrid will still be tough opponents, despite them not having home advantage in their last-16 game which is due to be played in Romania on 23 February.

The Chelsea manager will be hoping to go one step further than he did last year. As then-manager of PSG, Tuchel took the French team to the Champions League final, only to lose to German side, Bayern Munich.

Tuchel took over at Chelsea after the London club sacked Frank Lampard in January.

Manchester City's best chance?

Manchester City have won a record 16 games in a row and are in excellent form.

City are top of the Premier League with a seven-point gap and face Borussia Mönchengladbach who are seventh in the German league - making the English side firm favourites to go through.

Even with star player Kevin De Bruyne missing through injury, the likes of 20-year-old English midfielder Phil Foden have stepped up and played some brilliant football.

Manchester City have never won the Champions League but - with Pep Guardiola, who has won the competition twice as a manger - and their current form, this might just be their year.