So let’s try this again: we’re done here. Thanks all for your company and comments, it’s been a blast. Apologies I couldn’t use them all, especially not all the cover versions and not all the railing at the non-cover cover versions - if it’s any consolation, I made the CMS run so slowly it didn’t correct an error my eyes told me had been corrected. Ta-ra!
And here’s our report of the draw.
Yet more...
And more...
More reading for you...
“For your subjects,” begins Philip Watson. “I Fought the Law (and the Law Won) was written in 1959 by Sonny Curtis, a member of Buddy Holly’s backing band, the Crickets. It was included on their first album released after Buddy’s death in February 1959. The song is now 62 years old...”
Great stuff.
“Faith No More always do fun covers,” emails Tom Chivers. “Here they are doing Lady Gaga’s Poker Face and Portishead’s Glory Box. I also remember seeing them do Pump Up The Jam and various other unexpected things.”
Now 24 veterans will, of course, remember their version of Lionel Richie’s Easy, complete with “Ugh!”
As per the below – “twice,” to quote Pep Guardiola – first legs will be played on 15/16/22/23 February, with second legs played on 8/9/15/16 March.
For those of you wondering why Villarreal had to play Juventus, it was because the teams left in the hat couldn’t be drawn against each other.
To me, at least, that looks a much more exciting draw than the one we had to begin with. Sporting v City should be a really fun tie, Paris v Madrid has plenty going on, Atletico v Man United is intriguing.
The draw in full
Salzburg v Bayern Munich
Sporting v Man City
Benfica v Ajax
Chelsea v Lille
Atlético v Man United
Villarreal v Juventus
Inter v Liverpool
PSG v Real Madrid
...Real Madrid.
Paris Saint-Germain v Real Madrid
Paris Saint-Germain will play...
...Liverpool.
Inter v Liverpool
Internazionale will play...
...Juventus.
Villarreal v Juventus
Villarreal will play...
...Man United.
Atlético v Manchester United
Atlético de Madrid will play...
...Lille.
Chelsea v Lille. As you were!
Chelsea will play...
...Ajax Amsterdam.
Benfica v Ajax
Benfica will play...
...Manchester City
Sporting v Man City. Great trip and Super Bock beer, difficult game.
Updated
Sporting Clube de Portugal will play...
...Bayern Munich.
Salzburg v Bayern, and Chelsea breathe a sigh of relief.
FC Salzburg will play...
Oh, he’s still there!
How are we going to pull this off without Andriy Arshavin?
Right massive, it’s back to Nyon and here’s or pal Marchetti apologising for a “malfunction of the software”. He doesn’t elaborate as to why no one - him, for example – said owt at the time, but the “external independent auditor” said the problem might have pre-existed the draw and now each tie will be checked by Uefa officials, who were presumably all out for lunch the first time.
“Would it not be more in keeping with Uefa’s thinking,” wonders Kevin Porter, “if, instead of a messy and complex draw, the choice of opponent was auctioned off to the highest bidder. That way the most wealthy club could buy the tie they most prefer. Which is, of course, how it should be.”
With the semis and final to take place, F1-style, in Qatar, Saudi and Abu Dhabi.
“While we’re at re-dos,” tweets Pete Mumola, “could we finally get one for the Qatar World Cup selection? TIA.”
For that, I will gladly spend tomorrow writing another blog suffused with official intervention.
You know what'd be good: a proper cover of the Champions League anthem. I’d fancy hearing a Radiohead version, and I’m pretty sure Goldie could also do something serious with it.
Updated
“I’ve designed an infallible algorithm - the same one Uefa uses to count balls in pot,” emails Paul Griffin. “The best covers answer is below. I’m Fervently hoping Everton, Max Verstappen, or Salvador Dali come out in draw 2.0.”
Pep Guardiola speaks:
I think it is fair. It was a mistake but sometimes these things can happen. If there was a mistake you have to repeat so it is not suspicious.”
A Europa reminder...
“A great example for cruciate injury recovery is Ronaldo - Original Ronaldo,” says Peter Van. “Such a great example you can use it to further or to contradict your point about Van Dijk. After his horrific knee injury, Ronaldo came back to win the World Cup and the Champions League. He was still a fabulous player and had the most successful part of his career post-injury, at least in terms of trophies. HOWEVER! I would argue that Ronaldo lost much after that injury. He was still great, but not as great as in his Barcelona / Inter glory. After his injury, he was still one the world’s best players; but before, he was the greatest player I have ever seen. If you’re in need of evidence, well, I’ll point out to a piece you’re surely familiar with.”
Any excuse. But yup, he was still brilliant, just not as brilliant.
A reminder
These are the group winners and therefore seeded teams, who’ll play the second leg at home:
Ajax Amsterdam (NED)
Bayern München (GER)
Juventus (ITA)
Liverpool (ENG)
LOSC Lille (FRA)
Manchester City (ENG)
Manchester United (ENG)
Real Madrid (ESP)
And these are the group runners-up and therefore unseeded teams, who’ll play the first leg at home:
Atlético de Madrid (ESP)
Benfica (POR)
Chelsea (ENG)
Internazionale (ITA)
Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)
Salzburg (AUT)
Sporting CP (POR)
Villarreal (ESP)
Teams from the same country cannot face one another and teams who qualified from the same group cannot face one another. First legs will be played on 15/16/22/23 February, with second legs played on 8/9/15/16 March. The away goals rule no longer applies, so if aggregate scores are level after 180 minutes, extra time will be played, and if they remain level are 210 minutes, penalties will be taken.
For those of you just joining us, we’re shortly going to enjoy a do-over of the Champions League last 16 draw, because the wrong balls were taken out of the wrong pots at the wrong times, so some clubs weren’t in position to picked to play teams they could legitimately face.
Check out the latest Football Weekly!
On the too many penalties point, they need to change the laws. Denial of a goalscoring opportunity anywhere on the pitch, penalty; foul or handball in the box but no goalscoring opportunity, direct free-kick.
Sometimes the answers come fast. Here’s Dan Christmas: “Divine Comedy wrote My Lovely Horse, so it surely does not belong on a list of great covers. I demand a redraw. “
I was on the F1 yesterday, and now I’m on this today. Can’t wait for tomorrow.
Following a technical problem with the software of an external service provider that instructs the officials as to which teams are eligible to play each other, a material error occurred in the draw for the UEFA Champions League Round of 16.
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) December 13, 2021
“External service provider” though, you’ve got to laugh. Did the “external service provider” decide to plough on with the draw when everyone could see it wasn’t fair as well?
We’re getting a lot of cover-version chat, so here are some:
Michael Meagher: “Granted there should be an embargo on this song ever being played anywhere for at least a decade. However, waaaaay better than the Jeff Buckley version:
Kevin Dwyer: “Divine Comedy covering My Lovely Horse at Electric Picnic.”
Iain Pearson: “Bob Dylan got a shout-out for his Clash cover, so how about I Fought the Law as a banging cover of a banging original?” Police and Thieves ismy favourite of theirs, but this also approved.
Giles Skerry and Martin Constantinides:
“Great example for prosecution on cruciate injuries is Van Nistelrooy,” emails Cristopher Dale. “The player United signed in 2001 was significantly diminished from the player they agreed to sign in 2000.”
That is an absolutely befuddling thought, given how good he still was, but yup, I’ve heard that from elsewhere – though I didn’t see him play for PSV.
Does anyone else see the words Bodo/Glimt and think:
Er, OK then, just me. But what a tie that is for Celtic, nothing better than a trip somewhere you’d likely never go otherwise, and watching your players freeze to boot.
Conference League knockout round playoff draw
Yes it does indeed feel like they’ve just picked words not balls out of a hat, but here it is:
Marseille v Qarabag
PSV v Maccabi Tel Aviv
Fenerbahce v Slavia Prague
Midtjylland v PAOK Salonika
Leicester City v Randers
Celtic v Bodo/Glimt
Sparta Prague v Partizan
Rapid Wien v Spurs or Vitesse
We’ve got a technical issue interrupting the Conference League draw, of course we do. We pause to sort it, rather than style it out because no one will notice.
“Always on My Mind is a great cover and I agree better than the original,” reckons Barry Derbyshire. “Jimi Hendrix’s version of All along the Watchtower should get a shout out, as Bob Dylan converted to playing Jimi’s electric rendition at his live shows after Jimi passed away.”
And, no doubt, in numerous other ways too. There’s nothing like being at a Bob gig wondering what on earth is this, then about three minutes in realising it’s one of my all-time favourite tunes. Last time I had the honour of seeing him play Watchtower, he segued straight into London Calling.
“Best cover, conversation over,” declares Norm Baker, and who am I to argue with this magnificence?
“Perhaps players like Van Dijk who have had serious knee operations are much more tentative for quite a while upon their return?” wonders Mike MacKenzie. “It could be a subconscious thing. Maybe that could explain why he hasn’t been as aggressive in making challenges on advancing forwards?”
That could absolutely be the case. I suppose my reference point for this is Roy Keane, who needed until December to get going after hurting himself in September. He was 27 and not a pace merchant to begin with, but I’m sure treatment is better now than in 1997-98.
“Which other players of his age have returned with nothing lost after doing their cruciate?” says Alan Gomes. “Well, it’s a different sport and a different world, but tearing the cruciate ligament used to be a death knell for basketball players too, regardless of age. When Kevin Durant came back from his injury, he was 32 – older than VVD is now – but he was as great as before. On a different note, how fun would it be if Uefa repeated the draw and the same ties came up? It would be a message from the gods that they really, really want to see another round of Messi vs. Ronaldo before they retire.”
It would prove once and for all that the world is run by Narrative. And fair enough re Durrant – of course, medical science is constantly improving, and there could well be other examples. But I don’t think it’s a stretch to wonder if Van Dijk is as good as before – he’s not looked it to me, but he’ll be closer now than he was in August.
“Best cover,” tweets Paul Roche, before dropping this belter.
“Chaos, chaos, chaos!” begins Peter Van. “I sympathise if the Uefa bungling messed up your lunch (post-lunch?) plans. But I am greatly pleased by it. Not because its the right or fair thing to do - just out of my love of chaos. Oh all those thousands of ‘CL Draw’ news stories being hastily pulled down! Oh all the confused fans expecting a tie vs Lille who will now get Bayern! Great stuff. Also, if the redraw brings some of the same ties (a likely possibility), those will look like the Hand of Fate: ‘Of course Inter and Ajax were fated to meet!’”
Ha! If we’re being honest, I’m a one meal a day man, so tend to eat much later, and am on school-run duty at 4.50, so we’re good in that aspect. But if we’re talking football parochialism, then I’m not dismayed that my team’s rivals might not get harder games, and my team might get an away somewhere they’ve not been numerous times lately. And, more generally, I think there’s a better draw out there than the one we were originally dealt, so let’s see.
@ShakesMcNails tweets me, noting that my suggestion Van Dijk isn’t the player he was is “A truly ludicrous statement”. As ever, I might be wrong – I often am – but I’d be keen to know which other players of his age have returned with nothing lost after doing their cruciate – see Radamel Falcao, for example. Or if you’re more into data than medical history, this thread has some of that.
You may have seen Virgil van Dijk with low defending ratings on our site this season. Here are a few of the moments that affected his rating, i.e. when he received demerits for conceding attacking actions to opponents. Our algorithm estimates the relevant defender on each play:
— smarterscout (@smarterscout) November 29, 2021
Great news chums! We’ll now be online for the Conference draw! The Holy One Blessed Be He works in mysterious ways.
I just watched an ad deploying a choral version of You Are Always on My Mind. Is the Pet Shop Boys’ version the greatest cover ever? It’s certainly a rare example of one better than the original.
That’s the right decision, that should ultimately please everyone. Obviously Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea got draws that, on the face of things, looked kind, so they’ll be loath to lose them, but it’s got to be fair and it wasn’t. It will, though, be funny, if Atleti get Bayern again and Paris draw Man United again. You do, though, have to ask why it took an appeal, and they didn’t just do the right thing at the time. Well, you have to ask, but being a person, you know people, and being a football fan, you know Uefa, so.
We are in talks with UEFA to ask for explanations and a solution after the mistakes made in the Champions League round of 16 draw.
— Atlético de Madrid (@atletienglish) December 13, 2021
The Champions League draw will be redone at 2pm!
Here we go!
If there is a redraw, I’ll be back here for it – join me should that happen. If not, ta-ra.
In fact before I go, it seems as though Atlético are pushing for a redraw – I wonder if they’d be so keen had they got Lille not Bayern – and on the one hand, they’ve every right to want one, but on the other that isn’t often how things work.
The Conference League draw will be happening presently, and you’ll be able to find out all about that in full report of today’s activities. For those of you who noticed, yes, my BT did crash during the Europa draw, creating minor confusion, but here we are. Thanks for your company and have a good day.
Now that is a draw. One absolute jazzer, and various ooh I’m looking forward to that support acts. You can always rely on the Europa League, as the saying goes.
Europa League draw in full
Sevilla v Dinamo Zagreb
Atalanta v Olympiacos
Leipzig v Real Sociedad
Barcelona v Napoli
Zenit v Real Betis
Borussia Dortmund v Rangers
Sheriff Tiraspol v Braga
Porto v Lazio
Ties to take place on 17 and 24 February
Updated
...Lazio.
Porto v Lazio. Not bad!
Porto will play...
...Braga.
Sherrif v Braga
Sheriff Tiraspol will play...
...Rangers.
Borussia Dortmund v Rangers. Noice!
Borussia Dortmund will play...
...Zenit St Petersburg.
Real Betis v Zenit St Pertersburg
Real Betis will play...
...Napoli. Woof!
Barcelona v Napoli
Updated
Barcelona will play....
Updated
...Real Sociedad.
Leipzig v Real Sociedad
Updated
Leipzig will play...
...Olympiacos.
Atalanta v Olympiacos
Atalanta will play...
...Dinamo Zagreb.
Sevilla v Dinamo Zagreb. Two belting trips there.
Sevilla will play...
Clubs from the same country can’t be drawn together.
Right, here we go...
Andrés Palop, the former Sevilla keeper, will help with the draw. Sevilla likes football and the Europa League, and is also hot; more news as I get it.
On the other hand, had this not happened, we might’ve been deprived of the joy that’ll be Lionel Messi running at Hazza Maguire.
‘Here’s the BT Sport YouTube video at the timestamp of the Atletico Madrid mistake,” returns Julian Fricker. “As the guy says Liverpool can’t be included, the Liverpool ball was already picked up.”
Here comes our man Marchetti, introduced again, still looking like Claudio Ranieri. The backdrop has been changed, which is extremely exciting, to show that the final will take place in Seville.
Europa League draw
Seeded and away first:
Rangers
Real Socieded
Napoli
Olympiacos
Lazio
Braga
Real Betis
Dinamo Zagreb
Unseeded and home first:
Leipzig
Porto
Dortmund
Sheriff
Barcelona
Atalanta
Sevilla
Zenit
Or, put another way, the group runners-up are seeded and the Champions League rejects are unseeded. There are some potential jazzers here, so let’s hope we get one or two.
We’re moving onto the Europa draw now, which has a fair few decent teams in it. West Ham don’t need to think about this bit - they’re through to the last 16 as group winners – but the Champions League rejects need to qualify, along with the group runners-up.
“What is wrong with the sports administration in the world?” says Mike Binns. “Why can’t people accept a mistake and correct it? Whether it’s F1 ( or is it WWF1), or Uefa. The only fair outcome is a re-draw. The only voice we as fans have is you the journalists. Why does the world just shrug its shoulders and say “Ah well - that’s life? It’s really not good enough.”
I don’t think this is quite like the F1, as officials in all sports make mistakes during the actual sport, and they’re not corrected after the fact. But yup, if we all noticed they botched this, then they did too. Even so, I totally get why they just ploughed on hoping they’d got away with it because I too am human, but it’s such a small deal that trying to do that makes very little sense.
“We all saw the mistake of Man Utd being in the pot vs Villarreal,” says Julian Fricker. “Their system messed up after that and they had Liverpool in the pot to play Atletico instead of Man Utd. You can see it on their board, Liverpool with a green marker and Man Utd with red. I checked the video and the guy 100% grabbed the Liverpool ball.”
“Re the error where seven balls were wrongly put in the pot to face Villarreal,” says Peter. “After United and then City were drawn, the error was compounded. The balls put in the pot for Atletico Madrid wrongly included Liverpool (put in the pot before the host spotted the error on screen), but didn’t include United (as it was wrongly stated they’d already been paired). All further draws contained the right balls but United were denied the chance to draw Atletico…”
Aha, I thought they were left out until the end, but I was also looking at my fingers and my CMS.
Read all about it!
Stick with me for the Europa League draw, but do send in your thoughts on the one we’ve already seen.
“Did Uefa not get the memo?” says Felix Wood. “Was the brief not ‘all bangers, all the time’? Do UEFA need to get Michael Masi in to guarantee TV-friendly drama?”
So it’d seem. Absolute disgrace. I’d like to see someone turn up when it’s Villarreal 0-93 Man City and there’s five to go and give it a “Next goal wins”.
Joe Cole is looking forward to the Joe Cole derby, Chelsea v Lille. He warns against assuming Chelsea are through, but a tie against the 11th-best team in France sound alright to me. That said, Jonathan David is a danger, so you never know.
Updated
“A Great expectations X Guardian live blog crossover is almost as weird as the Europa League with Barcelona in it,” says Eli Barrott. “How long do you think it will be before we see them back in the big time?”
I know, we’re a bit highbrow for Dickens, but occasionally we like to show the common touch. The money and prestige means it can never be that long, but it might take another season.
There is, of course, plenty of narrative in that Paris v Man United tie. Messi v Ronaldo, Rangnick against Pochettino, who might be competing for the same job, and the teams have met a few times lately. But let’s be real, though both could win the trophy, neither are likely to win the trophy, so I’m not having it as a banger.
I should note, I think they made a mistake in the draw: we were told that Villarreal could draw any of the seven teams left, which wasn’t so – they couldn’t get Man United, with whom they qualified. United duly came out the hat, and seemed to stay out of it until there was only one team left, so didn’t actually have a chance of being drawn against anyone other than whoever was still in hat bowl. For all the difference it makes.
I can’t lie to you, I was hoping for more here. We’ve not got a single stone-cold banger, I’m afraid, and it looks a lot like three of the four English club will progress – at least. But I’m sure that when we get going, things will look very different.
The dates won’t work according to the order in which the teams came out of the hat. They will, I imagine, work that one out according to geography – you can’t for example, have Man City and Man United playing at home on the same night and probably not in the same week – and television, aka money.
The draw in full
Benfica v Real Madrid
Villarreal v Man City
Atletico v Bayern Munich
Salzburg v Liverpool
Inter v Ajax
Sporting v Juventus
Chelsea v Lille
PSG v Man United
Paris Saint-Germain will play the only team left, which is Manchester United.
Paris Saint-Germain will play Manchester United
Chelsea will play the only remaining team they can play, which is Lille.
Chelsea v Lille
...Juventus.
Sporting v Juventus
Sporting Clube de Portugal will play...
...Ajax.
Internazionale v Ajax Amsterdam
Inter will play...
...Liverpool.
FC Salzburg v Liverpool. Similarly, they’d’ve took that.
FC Salzburg will play...
...Bayern Munich!
Atlético de Madrid v Bayern Munich
Atletico Madrid will play....
“I still don’t see the name of Manchester City on the board,” says Marchetti, which I thought was a diss about their lack of trophies but was in fact a technical issue.
Villarreal v Manchester City. As Ryan Giggs would say, they’d’ve took that.
...Manchester United, which isn’t possible as they met in the group, so we’ll draw another ball. The suspense!
Villarreal will play...
...Real Madrid.
Benfica v Real Madrid
Updated
And now for the draw. Group runners-up, playing home first, will come out of the bowl first. Benfica will play....
Updated
Here we go. We’ve had the introduction to the introduction of the draw, and now we’re having the introduction to the draw.
Andriy Arshavin, repping for St Petersburg – which will host the final – and sporting a teenager’s moustache, joins us. He was impressed by Ajax, and his favourite memory is scoring the Arsenal goal that beat Barcelona. I wish he’d have been better than he was when he wen there, his top level was an excellent level and he was great to watch.
Updated
Update: Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Marco van Basten are good.
Giorgio Marchetti, the deputy general secretary of Uefa, arrives. He’s telling us that football is good, and the Champions League is good.
And with that, we’re away to Nyon for some prattle. Pedro Pinto, the host, may have accidentally put the thin bit of his tie out, which was actually the fashion in my school – that, and pulling out individual threads so that the tie ended up partially black. Oh what larks, dear old Pip dear old chap.
Liverpool have been excellent so far this season. I do wonder whether their defence might cost them – the better teams might exploit the space in behind the full-backs, and I’m not sure Van Dijk is quite the player he was. They also don’t quite have the squad some of their rivals do, but on their game, they’re extremely serious: they know exactly what they’re doing, and the confidence of knowing they can do it should not be underestimated.
Will this be the year that Man City finally get it done, and Pep Guardiola finally gets it done without arguably the greatest player of all-time, Lionel Messi, and arguably the greatest midfield of all-time, Sergio Busquets, Xavi and Andrès Iniesta? Watching them against Paris, there was plenty of evidence that, like Eastenders’ Irene and Troy, their time is now. But there was also plenty of evidence to the contrary: is that defence really up to it, especially when there’s no reliable scorer to redeem it? And has Guardiola finally learnt to just pick his best team in big games?
Updated
In the BT studio, they’re busy agreeing that “the English teams are the best”. I think that’s a little strong, but also think it’s fair to say that if everyone plays at their best, Bayern, Liverpool and Mn City are the best teams around, and Chelsea and Man United can beat anyone on a good day.
“I share your scars of United’s away goals history,” emails Jake Lewis-Smith, “but I think they may be blurring your judgement here. I reckon Bayern and Madrid are the two to avoid in that list - if Ajax are back as big-hitters, could someone let the rest of the Dutch League know? Also, props for use of ‘Bazzing’!”
That was one for my old fella, who I guess learnt it in Cheetham Hill in the 50s. You don’t hear much of it these days, but it’s a goodun. Ajax have a high top level and the game to beat anyone, which is why I’d want to avoid them; Madrid are between teams, I think, though do still have the individuals to sort anyone on a good day.
“Watching the clips,” says Michał Pac Pomarnacki, “it really makes you wonder - how did Man United not win more CL trophies in between 1996-2003? Only one final appearance in their prime – that’s really poor considering their strength at that time. Can’t blame it all on the away-goal rule, there were some poor games, at least from the tactical point of view.”
Agreed. It’s never the away-goals rule’s fault – every team knows how the competition runs – but it’s fair to say that the first few years English clubs were back in Europe, they were catching up. See Arsenal’s undressing by Benfica for further evidence. The year that stands out for me as the one United should’ve won it was 1999-00 because of those years, that’s the only one in which they were the best team around. But it’s a cup competition so stuff happens; there’s a reason Real Madrid are the only side to retain the trophy in the Champions League era.
I’m sure everyone will want to avoid Ajax, as it goes, and don’t be sleeping on Sporting, who’ve been excellent for a couple of years now. The three other English clubs can all get them, Inter, Benfica and Salzburg; Liverpool can also get Paris and Villarreal, Man City can also get Atletico and Villarreal, and Man United can also get Paris and Atletico.
There are some absolutely bazzing potential ties here, there really are. Chelsea have caused themselves grief by conceding that late goal to Zenit, because thanks to the other English teams winning their groups, they can only get Ajax, Bayern, Real Madrid or Lille. They’ll want to avoid the former two, but will fancy themselves against the latter two.
OK, that’s enough of my trauma. I appreciate your understanding, but at this point I need a professional.
And one more. I’m away to cry in the corner.
Aha, another away goals nightmare.
“My fear is that the near-constant jeopardy in the 2nd leg will be removed,” emails Clive Darwell on the away goals thing. “A few years ago a real cracker between RM and Dortmund all of a sudden died when the 2-1 score was mirrored during the 2nd leg - it’ll be happening much more often now, but we’ll see.”
I’m not sure about that, because you can also see a tie die because of away goals – the one below, for example. Dortmund won the first leg 1-0, scored early in the second, and though United had a good go and missed plenty of chances, getting three was always a long shot. Ultimately, it’s an attempt at contriving drama which, as F1 showed yesterday, is not what sport should be (in mine).
And here’s another. Feel free to send in your favourites.
I mentioned away goals that scarred me. This is one:
Tell you what, the removal of the away goals rule is an absolute boon. I admit I’m scarred from watching my own team concede early in home ties, and perhaps that colours my judgment. But morally, it contradicted an essential truism of football – that one goal = one goal. But I also think it was born out of a need that no longer exists. Back in the day, teams would play for 0-0 away from home, hoping to win at their own ground, and that is no longer the case.
In practice, it means that winning the group is now more of an advantage. Previously, it gave the side away second the opportunity to score an away goal that couldn’t be equalised, and the potential for an extra half-hour to get one, should the tie go to extra time. That’s now gone, though I remain unsold on the idea that home second is necessarily better – home first, and you might kill the tie in the first leg, just as away first gives your opponents the chance to play themselves into the tie. To my mind, the issue is not clear-cut.
Preamble
Hello, good morning and welcome to the draw for the Champions League round of 16 last 16 of the Champions League. There will now be a long break while people witter on about who knows what, followed by a commercial break, followed by prattle prior to presentation of the prestigious best bucket man of the group stages award, followed by a commercial break.
Then, at some point in the next fortnight, balls will be picked from bowls and the matchups will be set; look out for Manchester City getting paired with Chesterfield etcetera etcetera. Oh how we laughed.
Anyhow, these are the group winners and therefore seeded teams, who’ll play the second leg at home:
Ajax Amsterdam (NED)
Bayern München (GER)
Juventus (ITA)
Liverpool (ENG)
LOSC Lille (FRA)
Manchester City (ENG)
Manchester United (ENG)
Real Madrid (ESP)
And these are the group runners-up and therefore unseeded teams, who’ll play the first leg at home:
Atlético de Madrid (ESP)
Benfica (POR)
Chelsea (ENG)
Internazionale (ITA)
Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)
Salzburg (AUT)
Sporting CP (POR)
Villarreal (ESP)
Teams from the same country cannot face one another and teams who qualified from the same group cannot face one another. First legs will be played on 15/16/22/23 February, with second legs played on 8/9/15/16 March. The away goals rule no longer applies, so if aggregate scores are level after 180 minutes, extra time will be played, and if they remain level are 210 minutes, penalties will be taken.
Updated
