The Champions League may have a new format this year courtesy of a remodelled group stage, but it has still provided plenty of excitement so far.
The addition of a play-off round prior to the last-16 has also seen some big names eliminated from the competition at an early point.
Man City, the 2023 winners, were sent crashing out of the competition as holders Real Madrid wrapped up a dominant 6-3 aggregate win by beating Pep Guardiola’s side 3-1 in the second leg of their play-off on Wednesday.
Los Blancos joined Paris Saint-Germain, Club Brugge, Feyenoord, PSV, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Benfica in booking their place in the last-16 via play-off wins.
Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic agonisingly bowed out after a last-gasp Bayern goal on Tuesday, with Brest, AC Milan, Atalanta, Juventus, Sporting Lisbon and Monaco also falling short in their respective ties.
Liverpool, Arsenal and Aston Villa will return to action in the last-16, with their players having avoided the play-offs by finishing in the top eight of the league phase.
The Champions League may have a new format this year courtesy of a remodelled group stage, but it has still provided plenty of excitement so far
Real Madrid earned their place in the last-16 draw with a 6-3 aggregate win over Man City
Liverpool finished top of the league phase and will face PSG or Benfica in the round of 16
The ties for the round of 16 will be played on during the weeks of March 4 and March 5 with the return legs being held on March 11 and March 12.
The draw to confirm every team’s route to the final will be held on Friday, February 21, which is where things get a little complicated.
UEFA state that four bowls will be prepared for this draw, with two for each side of the bracket.
Each bowl contains two balls representing the winners of the round of 16 matches from one rung of the relevant side of the bracket.
This means that the first silver bowl will contain slips of paper marked ‘Winners R16 1’ and ‘Winners R16 2’ and the second silver bowl will have papers marked with ‘Winners R16 3’ and ‘Winners R16 4’.
The first bowl on the blue side will contain slips of paper marked ‘Winners R16 5’ and ‘Winners R16 6’ and, finally, ‘Winners R16 7’ and ‘Winners R16 8’ in the second bowl on the blue side.
The draw starts by shuffling and drawing the balls placed in the first bowl of the silver side of the bracket.
The first ball drawn from this bowl indicates the team which will play the first match of the quarter-final at home, and the second ball the team which will play the return leg at home.
Arsenal know they will be drawn against either PSV or Feyenoord in the round of 16
Harry Kane will be hoping to lead Bayern Munich to Champions League glory on their home ground, with the final being held in Munich on May 31
The draw to confirm the full route to the final will be held at UEFA’s headquarters on Friday
The procedure is repeated with the remaining bowls to complete the quarter-final pairings.
A similar process will be undertaken for the semi-final draw with two bowls – one for the silver bracket and one for the blue.
If that all sounds too confusing to map out, an illustration of each team’s potential route can be seen above.
It is also important to remember that teams from the same domestic league can face each other in the round of 16, which had not always been the case.
They can also be drawn against teams they previously faced in the league phase.
As the teams to have finished first and second in the league phase, Liverpool and Barcelona earned top seeding and will face one of the lower ranked sides who made it through the play-offs.
Arne Slot’s side or the Catalan giants will be drawn against either PSG or Benfica in Friday’s draw, after the pair came through their play-off matches.
Arsenal and Inter Milan will be drawn against either PSV or Feyenoord in the last-16, while Aston Villa and Lille will play one of Club Brugge or Borussia Dortmund.
Real Madrid’s triumph against Man City has set up the prospect of a Madrid derby against Atletico, but Carlo Ancelotti’s side could also be drawn against Bayer Leverkusen.
Bayer Leverkusen and Atletico Madrid’s other potential opponent is Bayern Munich, ensuring the sides will be drawn against one European heavyweight on Friday.
