Advertisement

Champions League draw: Chelsea face Barcelona with Spurs drawn against Juventus

The Champions League round of 16 draw in full - AFP
The Champions League round of 16 draw in full - AFP

Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool were all delivered with highly favourable draws in the last-16 of the Champions League – although there will be less cause for celebration at Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur.

Even so there is a very real prospect that all five Premier League clubs could make it through to the quarter-finals.

Chelsea appear to have been delivered the trickiest task as they were drawn against Barcelona - and will play at the Nou Camp in the second leg - for the first time since they triumphed in the semi-finals on their way to winning the Champions League in 2012.

Barcelona will not relish facing Chelsea, either, although the English club will be kicking themselves. Had they won their group they would be facing Shakhtar Donestk, who have been drawn with Roma.

For Spurs the reward for winning their group is a first meeting in European competition with last season’s finalists, Juventus, who are currently only third in Serie A but have a rich pedigree of success in this competition. Spurs, as a group winner, will play their second leg at home, at Wembley.

The draw was far more kind to United – who were paired with Sevilla, who finished second in Liverpool’s group, and who they have never faced before. Liverpool were drawn against Porto, while City will be pleased that they will face Basel, with the Swiss runners-up to United in their group.

The showpiece draw of the round is undoubtedly the holders Real Madrid, who were runners-up to Spurs, against Paris Saint-Germain give the scale, ambition and squads the clubs have. Not least with Kylian Mbappe having chosen PSG ahead of Real last summer. There will be nervousness at PSG that their coach, Unai Emery, has never won at the Santiago Bernabeu.

The final tie is Bayern Munich against Besiktas.

Fixture details will appear here as clubs confirm dates and times:

 

11:41AM

Happy days

As for Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool - things have gone pretty well there haven't they? Basel were the easiest side available and City should brush them aside with minimal fuss.

Sevill are currently fifth in La Liga and United will fully expect to see them off. Liverpool will not have things all their way against a Porto side top of their league and unbeaten domestically in 14 games. However, the Portuguese side only managed to finish second in a Champions League group won by Besiktas.

11:35AM

We meet again

The other cracker involving an English side is Spurs against Juventus. Mauricio Pochettino's side played the Italians in pre-season and beat them 2-0 at Wembley. Another nailed on English victory then...

Of course, the overwhelming tie of the round is Real Madrid vs PSG. The two sides were first and third in the pre-draw betting to lift the trophy in May, but one of them will not even make it to the quarter-finals. The two teams faced each other in the 2015/16 group stage when they drew 0-0 in Paris before Real triumphed 1-0 at home. The French side are a rather different prospect nowadays though.

11:26AM

Reaction

Well, from an English perspective that Chelsea tie against Barcelona is the tastiest. This is the sixth time those two sides have been drawn against each other in the Champions League knockout stages (plus one time they were in the same group). The overall knockout stage score since the turn of the century is: Barcelona 3 Chelsea 2.

11:21AM

Full draw

  • Juventus vs Tottenham

  • Basel vs Manchester City

  • Porto vs Liverpool

  • Sevilla vs Manchester United

  • Real Madrid vs Paris Saint-Germain

  • Shakhtar Donetsk vs Roma

  • Chelsea vs Barcelona

  • Bayern Munich vs Besiktas

11:19AM

Round of 16 - game eight

Bayern Munich vs Besiktas

11:19AM

Round of 16 - game seven

Chelsea vs Barcelona

11:18AM

Round of 16 - game six

Shakhtar Donetsk vs Roma

11:17AM

Round of 16 - game five

Real Madrid vs Paris Saint-Germain

11:16AM

Round of 16 - game four

Sevilla vs Manchester United

11:16AM

Round of 16 - game three

Porto vs Liverpool

11:15AM

Round of 16 - game two

Basel vs Manchester City

11:14AM

Round of 16 - game one

Juventus vs Tottenham

11:12AM

And it's live

The draw has begun. Sort of. A man in a suit is currently - and incredibly tediously - running through the rules, regulations and permutations.

11:04AM

Favourites

It's almost draw time. Which team would you least like to face in the next round?

Paris St-Germain are fairly short-priced favourites to succeed Real Madrid as champions, followed in the betting Manchester City, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

If you fancy a flutter on Basel you can find odds of 300/1 knocking about.

Real madrid - Credit: afp
Real Madrid celebrate their 2016/17 Champions League success Credit: afp

10:53AM

One year on

This time last year there were only three English sides in the Champions League draw.

Two of them had advanced as group winners - Arsenal and Leicester City. Manchester City joined them as runners-up.

Arsenal and Leicester City are absent this time around, but it is a rather different outlook for the Premier League with England providing five of the 16 teams still remaining:

  1. England - 5 teams

  2. Spain - 3 teams

  3. Italy - 2 teams

  4. Germany, France, Switzerland, Ukraine, Portugal, Turkey - 1 team

10:37AM

Bring them on

Speaking of Tottenham's potential opponents, Mauricio Pochettino gave some interesting quotes this weekend when asked about who he would prefer to face in the last 16.

On the one hand you have Bayern Munich or Juventus. On the other you have Basel, Porto, Sevilla and Shakhtar Donetsk.

I love to play against Real Madrid, the big teams. I love the challenge and to challenge the best as I’m a winner. I prefer to play against a big team. It’s a big test for us to play against big teams.

You can see the game against Real Madrid. I prefer to play against a team that will motivate everyone rather than a team all people say you will beat easily, then it gets complicated.

We love to play against a big team and we always give that little bit extra which you need. Sometimes you want to play a big team as the people are scared a little bit and they support and help the team, and provide us with better energy.

Do we believe him?

10:32AM

Deserved reward

For four of the five Premier League clubs in today's draw, they have the luxury of knowing that they are in the seeded section of the pot as group winners.

Which, in theory, should mean an easy ride. And yet...

Having gone undefeated in a group that contained Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund, Spurs could now find themselves facing Bayern Munich or Juventus in the first knockout round. The same fate might await Liverpool, Manchester City or Manchester United.

10:20AM

A numbers game

How much could Chelsea failure to beat Atletico Madrid in their final group stage cost them? Win and they would have advanced top of the group. But draw - as they did 1-1 - and they would finish runners-up.

Which now means a 41 per cent of facing Barcelona in the next round.

Allow mathematician JulienGuyon to provide such insight:

10:04AM

Draw preview

What is it?

This is the draw for the last-16 stage of the Champions League.

When is it?

The draw will take place on Monday, December 11, 2017.

What time is kick-off?

The balls will be drawn at 11am (GMT) in Nyon, Switzerland. You can follow all the action right here when this page turns into our live blog.

Which English teams are involved?

All five Premier League sides that entered European football's elite competition advanced through the group stage. That means Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham will all take place in the last-16 draw.

Chelsea were the only English team to make it through as runners-up, with the other four sides all topping their group.

Chelsea  - Credit: getty images
Chelsea drew their final group match against Atletico Madrid Credit: getty images

Here is the full list of the 32 teams who will go into the pot:

Group winners:  Barcelona, Besiktas, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain, Roma, Tottenham Hotspur.

Runners-up: Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Basel, Porto, Juventus, Real Madrid, Sevilla, Shakhtar Donetsk.

How does the draw work?

  • Two seeding pots will be formed: one consisting of group winners and the other of runners-up.

  • No team can play a club from their initial Champions League group or any side from their own country.

  • Seeded group winners will be away in the round of 16 first legs on 13/14 and 20/21 February and at home in the return matches on 6/7 and 13/14 March.

Who can the Premier League sides face?

Chelsea: Barcelona, Besiktas, Paris Saint-Germain.

Liverpool: Bayern Munich, Basel, Porto, Juventus, Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk.

Manchester City: Bayern Munich, Basel, Porto, Juventus, Real Madrid, Sevilla.

Manchester United: Bayern Munich, Porto, Juventus, Real Madrid, Sevilla, Shakhtar Donetsk.

Tottenham : Bayern Munich, Basel, Porto, Juventus, Sevilla, Shakhtar Donetsk.