February is always a dreamy time for football fans. With the resumption of the UEFA Champions League, domestic knockout tournaments coming to the fore and each league providing plenty of drama, it's a time of year where all fans get treated to great action pretty much every day of the week.
With key matches coming thick and fast, here's a look at some of February's prominent fixtures.
The knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League starts with the defending champions returning to the Wanda Metropolitano – the scene of last year's final. Liverpool are still unbeaten in two-legged knockout ties under Jurgen Klopp – a record that will be tested by Atletico who have reached the final twice under Diego Simeone.
All eyes will be on Thomas Tuchel as he returns to his old club in one of the most eye-catching fixtures of the Round of 16. With such heavy financial investment that's been put into the club, PSG will be under enormous pressure to advance after exiting at this stage of the tournament three years in a row.
It's another high-profile reunion for Jose Mourinho as he returns to Stamford Bridge – a ground where he has yet to win a Premier League game as a visiting manager. History suggests that it'll be a tough prospect for Spurs to come away with three points as they've only won at the ground once in the entire Premier League era.
It's always tough to draw Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League, but Chelsea will be boosted by the memories of meeting them in the 2012 final when they won the title. The Blues haven't got past this stage of the tournament since 2014 (when Frank Lampard was still playing for the club) whereas Bayern Munich have advanced to the quarter-finals in seven of the last eight seasons.
Barcelona have had their struggles against Italian clubs recently with Juventus knocking them out in 2016/17 and Roma following suit with a comeback win the next season. This is the first time the Catalans will face Napoli who are looking to reach the quarter-finals for the first time in their history.
One of the more fascinating matchups of the Round of 16 sees Pep Guardiola take his Manchester City team to the Bernabeu – the scene of many famous El Clasico battles for the Spaniard. His last meeting against Los Blancos was in the 2014 semi-finals when he was at the helm of Bayern Munich in a tie that ended in a comprehensive 5-0 loss on aggregate.
It's a Soweto derby that will get more focus than most with Chiefs looking to take a step closer towards ending a 6-year title drought and Pirates looking to spoil their aspirations. With Chiefs having won the reverse league fixture last November as well as knocking Pirates out of this season's Telkom Knockout, this game offers a rare opportunity for Amakhosi to get the better of their neighbours three times in the season.
