Real Madrid central defender Antonio Rüdiger has been diagnosed with a leg muscle injury sustained in a Spanish league game on Saturday.

Real Madrid vs. Manchester City is now a familiar sight in the Champions League. European soccer’s most engrossing rivalry in recent years will resume in a two-legged playoff next month to reach the round of 16.

Defending champions Real Madrid will renew their Champions League rivalry with 2023 winners Manchester City in a blockbuster knockout phase playoff tie after the two teams were pitted against each other in the draw held in Nyon on Friday.

Friday's draw on CBS Sports Golazo Network detailed the start to the path to the Champions League final at Munich's Allianz Arena on May 31, resolving the next round of matchuops though team's ultimate paths remain unsettled. Teams ranked ninth through 16th at the end of the league phase were seeded and drawn against one of the unseeded teams.

Real Madrid central defender Antonio Rüdiger has been diagnosed with a leg muscle injury sustained in a Spanish league game on Saturday. Madrid said Sunday that Rüdiger has “an injury to the biceps femoris” in his right leg.

Real Madrid will boast a "new signing" for its Champions League playoff clash with Manchester City in less than a fortnight.

Elsewhere among the eight ties, Celtic meet Bayern Munich and there is an all-French contest between minnows Brest and serial domestic champions Paris Saint-Germain. The first legs of the play-off matches will take place on February 11 and 12, with the returns a week later.

Manchester City have been drawn to face holders Real Madrid in the play-off round for a place in the last 16 of the Champions League. City and Real Madrid have faced each other in each of the past three seasons, with City losing on penalties in the quarter-finals to the eventual winners in 2023-24.