That’s all from me, with this bumper edition of European club football draws. Some tough fixtures out there for many of the English sides, which should make for entertaining watching. See you in February for MORE FOOTBALL. Bye!
Updated
Our report on the Europa League draw
Fair play, this is next level admin.
2015/16: Man City in our group 😳
— Gladbach (@borussia_en) December 14, 2020
2016/17: Man City in our group 🤨
2020/21: No Man City in our group 😅
Last 16:#DieFohlen #UCL pic.twitter.com/LUTOpEOHgK
Arsenal have only faced Benfica once before in competitive competition: the second round of the 1991 European Cup. After a 1-1 draw in the first leg and a 1-1 after 90 minutes at Highbury, Benfica (and Isaías in particular) turned it on in extra time, with Benfica winning 3-1. It also features one of the worst misses I’ve ever seen, from Tony Adams.
Also a chance for Adnan Januzaj and David Silva to get one over their old team/rivals.
Particularly looking forward to Real Sociedad v Manchester United aka The David Moyes Derby.
Bullet-point analysis of that draw
- Spurs should be through. You just know José Mourinho’s team are going to go far in this competition.
- Nightmare draws for Manchester United and Arsenal, who travel for their first legs to Real Sociedad and Benfica respectfully. The Spanish side lead La Liga currently, while Benfica haven’t lost at home in 25 games in the Europa League. Gulp.
- Rangers will be delighted with their draw with Royal Antwerp. It will be interesting to see if their European campaign affects their league form at all. At the moment, Steven Gerrard’s side are flying.
- Tricky tie for Leicester. Slavia Prague looked excellent in the group stages, amassing 12 points and also beat Bayer Leverkusen at home.
- A BIG shame that Maniche has cut off all his long, flowing hair. We go again.
Here is the draw in full
- Wolfsberger v Tottenham
- Dynamo Kyiv v Club Brugge
- Real Sociedad v Manchester United
- Benfica v Arsenal
- Red Star Belgrade v Milan
- Royal Antwerp v Rangers
- Slavia Prague v Leicester
- RB Salzburg v Villarreal
- Braga v Roma
- Krasnodar v Dinamo Zagreb
- Young Boys v Bayer Leverkusen
- Molde v Hoffenheim
- Granada v Napoli
- Maccabi Tel-Aviv v Shakhtar Donetsk
- Lille v Ajax
- Olympiakos v PSV Eindhoven
Olympiakos v PSV Eindhoven
Hope the PSV kitman remembers the away strip.
Lille v Ajax
A short hop on the Eurostar for the Dutch side.
Maccabi Tel-Aviv v Shakhtar Donetsk
Again, you have to fancy Shakhtar, who just missed out on qualifying from their Champions League group last week, and had to settle for the Europa League.
Granada v Napoli
This is Granada’s debut in the Europa League. It will likely be their last tie this season, if Napoli play the way that they can.
Updated
Molde v Hoffenheim
This is the first time Hoffenheim have reached this stage.
Young Boys v Bayer Leverkusen
Bayer Leverkusen are well fancied this year. Should be straightforward for the German side.
Krasnodar v Dinamo Zagreb
Krasnodar are on great form at the moment, they beat Lokomotiv Moscow 5-0 yesterday.
Braga v Roma
Another big tie.
RB Salzburg v Villarreal
Hot Salzburg news on our website, of course.
Slavia Prague v Leicester City
Maniche had a bit of trouble with pronouncing Leicester, there. Les-chester, it came out as.
Royal Antwerp v Rangers
That’s a kind draw for the Scots. Steven Gerrard will be happy.
Red Star Belgrade v Milan
This is the only club competition that Milan hasn’t won.
Updated
Benfica v Arsenal
Maniche started his career at Benfica, who are unbeaten at home in the Europa League for 25 (!) matches. A huge, huge tie and not the one that Arteta will have wanted.
Real Sociedad v Manchester United
Ole and co will go to the current La Liga leaders!
Dynamo Kyiv v Club Brugge
Brugge have a long history in this tournament.
Wolfsberger v Tottenham
Spurs will go to Austria!
It’s been announced that Tottenham’s tie will actually take place on the 24 February at 5pm GMT – a day earlier than the rest of the ties – because of “the city clash with Arsenal.” Arsenal will be at home on 25th Feb for the second leg. Weird.
Maniche, the former Porto, Atlético and Chelsea player is here for the draw. He won what was then the Uefa Cup in 2003 with Porto, before going on to win the Champions League a year later under José Mourinho.
In the round of 32, the first legs will be played 18 February, with the second legs a week later.
How the draw will work
- The clubs will be split into two pots, with the 12 group winners and the four best third-ranked teams in the Champions League group stage all seeded.
- The seeded teams are at home in the second legs.
- No team can play a club from their Europa League group or a side from the same national association.
- Based on the decision taken by the Uefa Executive Committee, teams from Russia and Ukraine cannot be drawn together.
Here are the teams for the Europa League draw:
Seeded teams
Milan (ITA)
Arsenal (ENG)
Ajax (NED*)
Club Brugge (BEL*)
Dinamo Zagreb (CRO)
Hoffenheim (GER)
Leicester (ENG)
Leverkusen (GER)
Manchester United (ENG*)
Napoli (ITA)
PSV Eindhoven (NED)
Rangers (SCO)
Roma (ITA)
Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR*)
Tottenham (ENG)
Villarreal (ESP)
Unseeded teams
Antwerp (BEL)
Benfica (POR)
Braga (POR)
Crvena zvezda (SRB)
Dynamo Kyiv (UKR)*
Granada (ESP)
Krasnodar (RUS)*
LOSC Lille (FRA)
Maccabi Tel-Aviv (ISR)
Molde (NOR)
Olympiacos (GRE)*
Real Sociedad (ESP)
Salzburg (AUT)*
Slavia Praha (CZE)
Wolfsberg (AUT)
Young Boys (SUI)
*Transfer from UEFA Champions League
Here is our report on the Champions League draw
Anyway, on to the real draw: the Europa League draw will be coming your way at midday GMT. So in about 10 minutes!
Table-topping teams in Champions League last 16: 0
— James Benge (@jamesbenge) December 14, 2020
Table-topping teams in Europa League last 32: 13
Includes leaders in PL, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1
Hankook > Gazprom
We can’t talk about Barcelona v PSG without talking about 2017. The greatest European comeback of all time, La Remontada, with PSG going into the second leg 4-0 up …
So, a lot to unpack. It’s a decent draw for Manchester City, even if Mönchengladbach’s Alassane Pléa and Marcus Thuram did look dangerous in the group stage.
Both Chelsea and Liverpool will have been hoping for easier draws. For Chelsea, Atlético, who have a knack under Diego Simeone of being a tricky team over two legs. I have to say that I fancy the Spanish side in that one.
For Liverpool, RB Leipzig. Liverpool are obviously one of the strongest teams in the competition, but we all know RB Leipzig are no mugs. Semi-finalists last year and a match for anybody.
The biggest tie is, of course, Barcelona v PSG. There are lots of question marks over that one. Who will be injured? Will Lionel Messi even still be at Barça? Remember the cup-tied rules do not apply now. Will Ronald Koeman or Thomas Tuchel still be in their respective jobs?
Here is the draw in full:
Atalanta v Real Madrid
That completes the draw!
Sevilla v Borussia Dortmund
There is only one tie left to come.
Barcelona v PSG
Woof. What a tie that is. Messi v Neymar, assuming the latter recovers from injury!
Porto v Juventus
That’s a good draw for Cristiano Ronaldo, who will surely relish a chance to get one over Sporting’s rivals.
RB Leipzig v Liverpool
Jürgen Klopp is going back to Germany.
Atlético Madrid v Chelsea
Eeeesh.
Lazio v Bayern Munich
A tough one for the Italian club, who have reached this stage for the first time in two decades.
Borussia Mönchengladbach v Manchester City.
The first draw is out
Here we go!
Updated
Stéphane Chapuisat, the Swiss striker and former Champions League winner in 1997 with Borussia Dortmund, will assist with the draw.
This is the first time that Borussia Mönchengladbach have made it through to this stage of the Champions League. They had an anxious wait to find out if they had qualified, but did so after Inter and Shakhtar drew 0-0. They watched that game on a tablet on the pitch after their own 2-0 defeat to Real Madrid in the final round of game.
There are no delegations from the clubs at the draw in Nyon due to Covid, so there will be no screenshots of club directors wincing or smiling smugly.
Anyway, on to the draw. It’s time.
When one thinks of the players at these clubs, has any single individual (through his ideas about youth development) had a greater influence on them than Gerard Houllier @michaelbutler18?
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) December 14, 2020
RIP Monsieur and thank you.
I spoke to Neil Ruddock recently, and one of the stories he told (which I didn’t include) was how Houllier revolutionised the club. When the Frenchman arrived in 1998, Liverpool’s squad were still known as the Spice Boys, and misbehaviour was rife. Ruddock played his part in that.
Houllier initially shared the management of the team with Roy Evans. According to Ruddock, on one pre-season tour, Houllier banned the squad from going out drinking, and told them to stay tucked up in the hotel. Various members sneaked out to go disco dancing in their snazzy shirts, and got the lift down to reception. As the doors opened, Houllier was there and caught the players (and Roy Evans!) red handed. Evans and Ruddock didn’t last long at the club after that.
It’s a funny story (sort of) but an important point: he changed the culture of the club. By 2001, Liverpool were no longer the Spice Boys, they were winning things again. And there wouldn’t have been the success of later years without Gérard Houllier.
Updated
You can read more here:
What a final that was, by the way.
BREAKING NEWS
If we’re talking about Liverpool, we must mention some very sad news this morning. Gérard Houllier, the former Liverpool manager, has died at the age of 73. Houiller never got his hands on the big-eared cup, but was did have European success in 2001 with the Reds winning the Uefa Cup and Uefa Super Cup.
He was hugely liked and respected on Merseyside, where he also won an FA Cup and two League Cups, and put in the foundations for a team that would later conquer Europe under Rafa Benítez. RIP Gérard.
We’re not going to have any more Champions League until mid-February. Specifically, the first round-of-16 ties begin on the 16th February, with the quarter finals beginning on the 6 April, the semis on the 27 April and the final on the 29 May, which is due to take place at the Atatürk Olympic Stadium in Istanbul.
A few of you might remember that stadium …
The draw kicks off around 11am GMT. If you support and English team and the blurb below looks a little confusing on a Monday, here are the teams that could potentially be coming your way.
Liverpool: Atlético Madrid, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Porto, Sevilla, Lazio, Barcelona or RB Leipzig.
Chelsea: Atlético Madrid, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Porto, Atalanta, Lazio, Barcelona or RB Leipzig.
Manchester City: Atlético Madrid, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Atalanta, Sevilla, Lazio, Barcelona or RB Leipzig.
Preamble
Hello. Welcome to coverage of the draw for the last 16 of the Champions League. First things first: here are the 16 teams who are in the pot for the draw.
Group winners (seeded): Bayern, Dortmund, Chelsea, Juventus, Liverpool, Man City, PSG, Real Madrid
Runners-up (unseeded): Atalanta, Atlético, Barcelona, Mönchengladbach, Lazio, Leipzig, Porto, Sevilla
And here’s how it will all work:
- Two seeding pots are formed: one consisting of the eight group winners and the other of the eight runners-up. No team can play a club from their own association or a club from the same group they were in.
- A first ball is drawn from the bowl containing the group runners-up; the team drawn is placed as the home team of match 1. The computer will then show which group winners are eligible to play the runner-up of match 1.
- A bowl will be prepared containing the name of the group winners which are eligible; a ball is then drawn from this bowl to complete the pairing of match 1. The team drawn is placed as the visiting team of match 1.
- The procedure is repeated for the remaining matches.
- Seeded group winners are away in the round of 16 first legs and at home in the return matches.
