Manchester City signed off their Champions League group stage with a comfortable 4-1 win over Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday night, with hat-trick hero Gabriel Jesus bringing an end to another successful pool in style.
Pep Guardiola's side have now reached the knockout stages of the competition in seven successive seasons, although the main prize has so far eluded them.
With their Premier League title defence now surely over, City could be tempted to turn their full focus to the Champions League having won their group and gone into pot one of the last 16 draw alongside Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Liverpool, RB Leipzig, Paris Saint-Germain and Valencia.
The English champions cannot be drawn against any of their fellow Premier League teams, nor will they face group-stage opponents Atalanta BC in the next round.
Those rules limit them to five opponents for the first knockout tie: Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Lyon, Napoli and Real Madrid.
City have never beaten Real Madrid in four previous meetings, losing on both trips to the Bernabeu, while they are also winless in two games against both Borussia Dortmund and Lyon.
Atletico Madrid would represent a brand new opposition for Guardiola's side, leaving Napoli as the only potential opponent that they have beaten before, doing so home and away in the 2017-18 group stage.
The Premier League side will learn their fate when the draw takes place at 11am in Nyon on Monday, with the first legs due to take place on February 18 and 19.
Barney Corkhill
