The draw to determine the fixtures for the Round of 16 in the ongoing season of the UEFA Champions League took place on December 17 and it threw up some tasty battles to be played out in February next year.
Cristiano Ronaldo is set to make his return to Madrid for the first time since leaving Real Madrid when his side, Juventus takes on Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Round of 16 tie. Runners-up of the last Champions League, Liverpool was paired up with Bayern Munich while Manchester United booked themselves a flight to Paris.
These fixtures have thrown up an interesting dynamic with many players set to face their former clubs. Here are 5 such names:
Angel Di Maria (PSG vs Manchester United)
It is very easy to forget Di Maria's time at Old Trafford as the Argentine stayed there for one uneventful season under Louis Van Gaal. There was a lot of ceremony and controversy surrounding his arrival at United in 2014.
The ceremony resulted from the stellar season he had at Real Madrid, helping them win the elusive La Decima. The controversy was because he was being shelved from Madrid because of 2014 World Cup's wonder boy James Rodriguez and the Columbian's reported marketability.
In 2015, Di Maria left the club and went to Paris where he has won 10 trophies.
Mario Mandzukic (Juventus vs Atletico Madrid)
Like Di Maria, Mandzukic also spent one season at the club he will come up against. The Croatian forward moved to the Spanish capital in 2014 and in his very first match, endeared himself to the Atletico faithful by scoring a winner in the Madrid derby.
He moved to Juventus the very next season and has scored 29 goals for the club, winning three consecutive Serie A titles. He was also the sole goal scorer for Juventus in the final of the 2016-17 Champions League where he scored a fantastic back volley.
Xherdan Shaqiri (Bayern Munich vs Liverpool)
Shaqiri was only recently a part of a relegated club. But Liverpool provided him with the exit ticket and he is now an integral part of a squad challenging for the Premier League. The Swiss midfielder scored two goals for his club against rivals Manchester United at the weekend in a game that proved to be United manager, Jose Mourinho's last.
Shaqiri played for the German side for three seasons and was a part of the treble-winning side of 2012-13. He also won the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup during his time in Munich.
Leroy Sane (Manchester City vs Schalke)
Sane is one of the brightest young prospects in the game and will be returning to the club where he made his senior debut in 2014. The German winger was also a part of Schalke's youth teams and joined the club in 2005 as a 9-year-old before leaving for Bayer Leverkusen three years later. He returned to Gelsenkirchen in 2011.
Sane announced himself to the world in 2014 when he starred in his side's victory over Real Madrid in the Champions League in 2014. Two years later, Manchester City paid good money to bring him to England where he starred in City's record-breaking Premier League-winning campaign in 2016-17.
Samuel Umtiti (Barcelona vs Lyon)
Umtiti may now be Barcelona's main man at the back and a World Cup winner with France but his football education happened in Lyon. The Frenchman joined the Olympique Lyonnais as a 9-year-old and spent 14 seasons at the club before fine performances in the Euro 2016 earned him a move to Catalonia in 2016.
Since moving to Barcelona, Umtiti has quickly risen to become one of the best centre-backs in the game, winning 6 domestic trophies.
