Plum last-16 ties include a Madrid derby, PSG v Liverpool, Bayern Munich v Bayer Leverkusen – who may be trailing in the title race but have never lost to Bayern under Xabi Alonso – and Club Brugge v Aston Villa.
Potential ties include Arsenal v Real Madrid in the quarter-finals; the winner of that tie facing Liverpool in the semis; Bayern or Leverkusen v Dortmund in the other semi-final.
Like those World Cup wallcharts that were among Football Daily’s best friends in childhood, the Bigger Cup bracket is an all-you-can-eat buffet for the imagination.
Despite the frankly weird absence of City, who if you’re into the whole coefficient thing have been Europe’s second-best team over the last five years, the draw appears custom-designed to cause an increased flow of saliva in the mouths of football fans.
And, best of all, in the final, Club Brugge v Lille Real Madrid v Barcelona.
