UCL round of 16 draw: Everything you need to know

The Champions League officially enters the knockout stage on Monday when UEFA holds its round of 16 draw. Here’s what you need to know.

UEFA will hold their first draw of the knockout stage on Monday when the tournament’s final 16 clubs find out who they will be paired against.

The draw will take place in the Swiss city of Nyon and streamed live on UEFA’s website starting at 6 a.m. EST.

Following the group stage this fall, the tournament’s 32 teams were whittled down to 16 that included the winners and runners-up of each of the first round’s eight groups. Teams that finished third in the group stage will compete in the Europa League for the remainder of the 2020-21 season.

The winners of each group and teams from the same country can’t face one another in the round of 16. The group winners will be seeded into Pot 1, runners-up in Pot 2. The round of 16 will be played from February 16-24 with a home-and-away leg.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of Monday’s draw.

Which teams remain in the tournament?

The seeded teams (those who won their respective groups) are: Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain.

The runners-up from the group stage (placed in Pot 2) are: Atletico Madrid, Borussia Monchengladbach, Porto, Atalanta, Sevilla, Lazio, Barcelona and RB Leipzig.

How will the draw work? 

The seeded teams will host all second leg matches, while no club can play another from their UEFA Champions League group or the same national association.

That means, for example, that Bayern Munich, the defending Champions League winners, can’t face Atletico Madrid (they were both in Group A) or any German team from Pot 2 such as ‘Gladbach or RB Leipzig. That means Bayern could likely be pitted against a team like Barcelona, which would make for a very tasty encounter so early in the knockout round.

Are the seeded sides favored to advance?

This is the stage of the competition where most of the teams remaining in the tournament have a realistic shot at the trophy. The teams in Pot 1 did win their respective groups, but that doesn’t mean they will have an easy round of 16 tie.

Several teams in Pot 2 are tricky. The seeded clubs will want to avoid the likes of Barcelona and RB Leipzig. Both sides have what it takes to go on a deep run, especially RB Leipzig who was a semifinalist last season. The two Italian clubs, Lazio and Atalanta, also offer up stiff competition for whichever teams are forced to play them.

Who’s favored to advance?

Having said that, Bayern, Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Juve had a very good group stage. The momentum these teams found over the past few weeks, however, could matter very little following the tournament’s winter break. The clubs that can remain more consistent and injury free over the next two months are the ones who enter the round of 16 as favorites.

Therefore, depth will matter big time. If that’s the case, Bayern, Liverpool and Juventus are in particularly strong position. We will have a clearer picture of the situation as we get closer to February.

Look at some possible matchups

As mentioned, Bayern-Barca is a realistic matchup that could come out of Monday’s draw. Barring any further draw restrictions UEFA may announce at the draw, Real Madrid, meanwhile, could end up playing Porto from neighboring Portugal in an Iberian derby.

PSG could face off against either Lazio or Atalanta. Either one would make for an interesting tie. Finally, Juve, arguably the best Italian club left in this competition, could play against RB Leipzig in what would certainly be one extremely exciting encounter.