Real Madrid against Manchester City in the Champions League is the accidental blockbuster of the new knockout playoffs round that starts Tuesday.
The past two title winners surprisingly finished mid-table in the new 36-team standings format that ended in January. The top-eight teams skipped the playoffs and went directly to the round of 16 in March.
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PSG's Ousmane Dembele celebrates after scoring his sides third goal during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco at Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
Real Madrid's head coach Carlo Ancelotti sits on the bench prior to the start of the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Brest and Real Madrid at Roudourou stadium in Guingamp, France, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola gestures during the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Manchester City at the Emirates stadium in London, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Manchester City's Erling Haaland celebrates scoring his side's first goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Manchester City at the Emirates stadium in London, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring his side's first goal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
The penalty for City and Madrid is now to meet in the extra stage inserted into the format just to enter the round of 16 that they have come to expect as their rightful place.
Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain also are wealthy and influential clubs now facing unexpected jeopardy in the two-leg playoffs on back-to-back midweeks in February.
The bonus for UEFA and broadcasters is having global attractions in action for two extra games after an expanded opening league phase. If record 15-time champion Madrid is to retain its European title, it will take playing 17 games instead of 13 last season.
Madrid eliminated Man City in the quarterfinals one year ago, and in two epic semifinal legs before lifting the trophy in 2022. Man City won their semifinals meeting decisively in 2023 on the way to its first European Cup title.
It is a different Man City in personnel and personality that Pep Guardiola will send out Tuesday in Manchester.
Star midfielder Rodri is out injured despite being included Friday in an updated squad, playmaker Kevin De Bruyne is less often fit, and the team's pursuit of a fourth straight Premier League title has been conceded with Liverpool the likely successor. New signings Omar Marmoush in attack and Nico Gonzalez in midfield have barely settled in — with Gonzalez getting injured early into his debut in the FA Cup and now a doubt for the Madrid game.
Madrid, however, is now rolling as La Liga leader since its early-season wobbles when Kylian Mbappé took longer than expected to settle in.
The France superstar has scored nine goals in his last eight games, most recently the equalizer against Atletico Madrid in the Spanish league on Saturday. His first game in a Madrid shirt against Erling Haaland is a key narrative among many before the winner is decided Feb. 19 at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.
Brest exceeded expectations by getting out of the league stage in its first season not just in the Champions League but in European competition. For that reason, the Brittany side might have been hoping for a rare match against a team from outside France in the playoffs — instead, it got PSG.
Indeed, the teams met just last week, with PSG winning 5-2 at Brest’s 15,000-seat Stade Francis-Le Blé. That stadium in northwestern France does not meet UEFA’s requirements so Brest has been playing its Champions League home games at Guingamp’s Stade de Roudourou, 114 kilometers (70 miles) away.
PSG hasn’t lost in any competition since Nov. 26 and starts as the big favorite to advance in a competition it has yet to win in 14 years under Qatari ownership.
An all-France game in February was impossible in the past 20 years because UEFA separated teams from the same country until the quarterfinals draw. Now the tennis-style seeded knockout bracket does not keep national rivals apart.
There could have been Dutch and Italian derbies in the playoffs but Juventus was paired with PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord got AC Milan. All four are former European champions.
Juventus and PSV meet Tuesday for the second time in Turin this season. Juventus, which has drawn more games that it has won this season, beat PSV 3-1 in September in the first of the 144 league-phase games.
Bayern reached the final when the Champions League title was last decided at its stadium in Munich — in 2012, when Chelsea won on penalties after a 1-1 draw.
The seven-time European champion has a long road back to a home-field final on May 31 after placing 12th in the league standings. Still, the blow of being in the playoffs was softened by being drawn against Celtic instead of Man City.
The runaway Scottish league leader, which won the 1967 European Cup seven years before Bayern's first title, hosts the first leg on Wednesday.
Also Wednesday, Club Brugge hosts in-form Atalanta, the Europa League title holder, which is a dangerous floater in the playoffs, and two-time champion Benfica travels to Monaco.
Borussia Dortmund, the 1997 champion and last season’s beaten finalist, is away to Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday. Both teams fired their coach in recent weeks.
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PSG's Ousmane Dembele celebrates after scoring his sides third goal during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Monaco at Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
Real Madrid's head coach Carlo Ancelotti sits on the bench prior to the start of the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Brest and Real Madrid at Roudourou stadium in Guingamp, France, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)
Manchester City's head coach Pep Guardiola gestures during the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Manchester City at the Emirates stadium in London, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Manchester City's Erling Haaland celebrates scoring his side's first goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Arsenal and Manchester City at the Emirates stadium in London, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring his side's first goal during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
U.S. President Donald Trump says Iran has proposed negotiations after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic as an ongoing crackdown on demonstrators has led to hundreds of deaths.
Trump said late Sunday that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports mount of increasing deaths and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night.
Iran did not acknowledge Trump’s comments immediately. It has previously warned the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has accurately reported on past unrest in Iran, gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran cross checking information. It said at least 544 people have been killed so far, including 496 protesters and 48 people from the security forces. It said more than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
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A witness told the AP that the streets of Tehran empty at the sunset call to prayers each night.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, addressed “Dear parents,” which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
—- By Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Iran drew tens of thousands of pro-government demonstrators to the streets Monday in a show of power after nationwide protests challenging the country’s theocracy.
Iranian state television showed images of demonstrators thronging Tehran toward Enghelab Square in the capital.
It called the demonstration an “Iranian uprising against American-Zionist terrorism,” without addressing the underlying anger in the country over the nation’s ailing economy. That sparked the protests over two weeks ago.
State television aired images of such demonstrations around the country, trying to signal it had overcome the protests, as claimed by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi earlier in the day.
China says it opposes the use of force in international relations and expressed hope the Iranian government and people are “able to overcome the current difficulties and maintain national stability.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Monday that Beijing “always opposes interference in other countries’ internal affairs, maintains that the sovereignty and security of all countries should be fully protected under international law, and opposes the use or threat of use of force in international relations.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz condemned “in the strongest terms the violence that the leadership in Iran is directing against its own people.”
He said it was a sign of weakness rather than strength, adding that “this violence must end.”
Merz said during a visit to India that the demonstrators deserve “the greatest respect” for the courage with which “they are resisting the disproportional, brutal violence of Iranian security forces.”
He said: “I call on the Iranian leadership to protect its population rather than threatening it.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman on Monday suggested that a channel remained open with the United States.
Esmail Baghaei made the comment during a news conference in Tehran.
“It is open and whenever needed, through that channel, the necessary messages are exchanged,” he said.
However, Baghaei said such talks needed to be “based on the acceptance of mutual interests and concerns, not a negotiation that is one-sided, unilateral and based on dictation.”
The semiofficial Fars news agency in Iran, which is close to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, on Monday began calling out Iranian celebrities and leaders on social media who have expressed support for the protests over the past two weeks, especially before the internet was shut down.
The threat comes as writers and other cultural leaders were targeted even before protests. The news agency highlighted specific celebrities who posted in solidarity with the protesters and scolded them for not condemning vandalism and destruction to public property or the deaths of security forces killed during clashes. The news agency accused those celebrities and leaders of inciting riots by expressing their support.
Canada said it “stands with the brave people of Iran” in a statement on social media that strongly condemned the killing of protesters during widespread protests that have rocked the country over the past two weeks.
“The Iranian regime must halt its horrific repression and intimidation and respect the human rights of its citizens,” Canada’s government said on Monday.
Iran’s foreign minister claimed Monday that “the situation has come under total control” after a bloody crackdown on nationwide protests in the country.
Abbas Araghchi offered no evidence for his claim.
Araghchi spoke to foreign diplomats in Tehran. The Qatar-funded Al Jazeera satellite news network, which has been allowed to work despite the internet being cut off in the country, carried his remarks.
Iran’s foreign minister alleged Monday that nationwide protests in his nation “turned violent and bloody to give an excuse” for U.S. President Donald Trump to intervene.
Abbas Araghchi offered no evidence for his claim, which comes after over 500 have been reported killed by activists -- the vast majority coming from demonstrators.
Araghchi spoke to foreign diplomats in Tehran. The Qatar-funded Al Jazeera satellite news network, which has been allowed to work despite the internet being cut off in the country, carried his remarks.
Iran has summoned the British ambassador over protesters twice taking down the Iranian flag at their embassy in London.
Iranian state television also said Monday that it complained about “certain terrorist organization that, under the guise of media, spread lies and promote violence and terrorism.” The United Kingdom is home to offices of the BBC’s Persian service and Iran International, both which long have been targeted by Iran.
A huge crowd of demonstrators, some waving the flag of Iran, gathered Sunday afternoon along Veteran Avenue in LA’s Westwood neighborhood to protest against the Iranian government. Police eventually issued a dispersal order, and by early evening only about a hundred protesters were still in the area, ABC7 reported.
Los Angeles is home to the largest Iranian community outside of Iran.
Los Angeles police responded Sunday after somebody drove a U-Haul box truck down a street crowded with the the demonstrators, causing protesters to scramble out of the way and then run after the speeding vehicle to try to attack the driver. A police statement said one person was hit by the truck but nobody was seriously hurt.
The driver, a man who was not identified, was detained “pending further investigation,” police said in a statement Sunday evening.
Shiite Muslims hold placards and chant slogans during a protest against the U.S. and show solidarity with Iran in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Activists carrying a photograph of Reza Pahlavi take part in a rally supporting protesters in Iran at Lafayette Park, across from the White House, in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Activists take part in a rally supporting protesters in Iran at Lafayette Park, across from the White House in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Protesters burn the Iranian national flag during a rally in support of the nationwide mass demonstrations in Iran against the government in Paris, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
