PSG vs Real Madrid rematch: Mbappe may be set for uncomfortable Champions League draw

As fate would have it, Kylian Mbappe may find himself heading back to the Santiago Bernabeu for a UEFA Champions League rematch between Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid just a few months after he controversially snubbed the Spanish giants.

Last season, there was an air of anticipation at the Spanish capital when Mbappe arrived for the second leg of the round-of-16 clash between the two teams. All eyes were on the Frenchman as the Madridistas salivated over the possibility of having him playing on their side for 2022-23. PSG lost that tie and were eliminated, but Mbappe scored on both legs to get the Real Madrid fans even more excited.

Alas, the summer came and he signed a contract extension with PSG, causing the Real Madrid faithful to feel like jilted lovers. As such, if Mbappe does return for a rematch this season, he can expect a very different reception from the Bernabeu stands.

PSG defeated Juventus 2-1 in their final Group H match on Wednesday evening, and it seemed like they were all set to finish as group leaders. That way, they would have avoided Real Madrid in the last-16 owing to the fact that the reigning champions thrashed Celtic 5-1 to claim the top spot in Group F.

The only way PSG could have landed second in their group was for Benfica to beat Maccabi Haifa 6-1 away from home, and they did just that. It seemed like an impossible task with the Portuguese side up 4-1 as late as the 87th minute, but Henrique Araujo and Joao Mario managed to score two more goals in the 88th and 92nd minute respectively.

Even then, it was unclear to many which team would claim the top spot, with PSG and Benfica having an almost identical record in the group stage. Both clubs sit with 14 points on the table after winning four matches and drawing two. For their head-to-head, they drew 1-1 on both legs of their tie. Moving on to the next criteria, they each have 16 goals for and seven against, leading to an identical goal difference of +9.

As such, tournament officials had to go all the way to the seventh criteria to break the tie, which looks at the team with the higher number of away goals scored in all group matches.

Benfica scored nine away goals against six by PSG, leading to the final classification. Benfica are on top of Group H, leaving PSG unseeded and with the possibility of reliving their nightmare elimination last season.

Apart from Mbappe, former Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos, who now plays for PSG, will also be in the spotlight after he missed the clash between the two teams last season due to injury. Of course, all this is hypothetical for now, pending the round of 16 draw which will take place on Monday, November 7, in Nyon, Switzerland.