As the race for the finals of the European Champions League gets tougher, Manchester United is set to host La Liga table topper, Barcelona in the quarterfinals round of eight.
Tottenham and Manchester City will also face each other in the Champions League quarter-finals.
The first legs of the quarter-final ties will take place on April 9 and 10, with the second legs coming a week later on April 16 and 17.
In the other two ties, last season’s finalists Liverpool were drawn against Porto, while Real Madrid’s conquerors Ajax will face Juventus in a rematch of the 1973 and 1996 finals.
United and Barcelona have met twice in the final, in 2009 and 2011, with the Catalan giants winning on both occasions.
The draw means a return to Nou Camp for United caretaker boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who scored a stoppage-time winner in United’s Champions League final win over Bayern Munich in 1999.
Although Barcelona were initially drawn to be at home in the first leg, the tie will take place at Old Trafford to accommodate neighbours Man City.
UEFA said ahead of the draw: “Manchester City and Manchester United will not be able to play at home on the same night, nor on consecutive nights following a decision made by the relevant local authorities.
“Therefore, should both clubs be drawn at home in the same week, the team having finished lower in the domestic league the previous season – in this case Manchester United – will be reversed in accordance with the UEFA Club Competitions Committee principles.”
Spurs will travel to the Etihad Stadium in the Premier League on April 20, meaning the two sides will play three times in the space of 10 or 11 days.
Liverpool’s quarter-final against Porto will be a repeat of last year’s last-16 tie which Jurgen Klopp’s side won 5-0 on aggregate.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp told the club’s official website: “What can I say? It’s Porto and we’ve played there already and we know how good we had to be last year.
“The result in the end was a strange one; it was very good for us, of course, but it was a strange one. In the second leg, we saw the character of Porto and the quality they have.
“I could not be further away from thinking it’s the best draw because it isn’t – it is just the draw, it’s the opponent we have to prepare for and that’s all we will be thinking about from when we start preparing for the game.”
