Here’s the full draw one last time:
Sevilla v Leicester
PSG v Barcelona
Bayer Leverkusen v Atletico Madrid
Porto v Juventus
Bayern Munich v Arsenal
Benfica v Borussia Dortmund
Real Madrid v Napoli
Manchester City v Monaco
The first legs will be played on 14-15 and 21-22 February. The second legs will be played on 7-18 and 14-15 March. But that’s all from me here. You can read about the draw in more detail here. Now it’s time for the Europa League draw. Follow this link.
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Patrick Kluivert, PSG’s sporting director, reacts to being drawn against Barcelona: “In this group, you knew the possibility was there to draw one of the biggest clubs in the world. We have played Barcelona two times, we know it is going to be a big match. We know everything about Barcelona, everybody does, but we have to face it. But Barcelona has to watch out for us.”
The first legs will be played on 14-15 and 21-22 February. The second legs will be played on 7-18 and 14-15 March.
Manchester City’s director of football Txiki Begiristain has reacted to his club’s draw against Monaco. “I think they are playing the best football in France now,” he says. “All the respect for what they are doing in the league. They have young players and a lot of talent.”
Leicester, meanwhile, have a tricky tie against Sevilla, who are third in La Liga. Sevilla are so experienced in Europe and while they’re not of the big names, I make them favourites, even though they travel to the King Power Stadium for the second leg.
“Surely worth pointing out that PSG drew Barca, meaning that Arsenal did indeed do well to win their group this time around,” says Daniel Barnett. “Could’ve been much, much worse.”
Indeed. Probably one of the main aims for Arsenal now must be for Santi Cazorla to return from his injury.
As for Manchester City, that’s a good draw given that they could have had Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund or Juventus. Monaco performed admirably in their wins over Tottenham, but City will be confident of beating them. Monaco won’t know how to handle their 0-2-1-4-2-0-1 formation.
When Arsenal won their group in 2011, they drew Milan and lost the first leg 4-0 in Italy. The aim must be for the tie to still be alive when Bayern visit the Emirates. “We thought it might happen,” David Miles, Arsenal’s club secretary, says. “The fans will think once again we’ve got the rough end of the draw but at some stage the tide is going to turn. We’re in a good rich vein of form, we’re second in the Premier League. We’re delighted to be playing the second leg at home, so we’re going to be upbeat and positive.”
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Arsenal faced Bayern in the last 16 in 2013 and 2014, losing on both occasions, while they finished second to them in their group last season. The good news is that they have the second leg at home and beat them 2-0 at the Emirates last season. The bad news is they lost 5-1 to them in Germany last season. That said, Bayern haven’t been quite as dominant since Carlo Ancelotti replaced Pep Guardiola. They are beatable, but it’s still not the draw Arsenal would have wanted.
The draw for the last 16 is over! Arsenal have Bayern Munich! See, this is what you get for winning your group.
Sevilla v Leicester
PSG v Barcelona
Bayer Leverkusen v Atletico Madrid
Porto v Juventus
Bayern Munich v Arsenal
Benfica v Borussia Dortmund
Real Madrid v Napoli
Manchester City v Monaco
The draw is almost set to begin. I zoned out while they were explaining how it works.
Newcastle United legend Ruud Gullit is today’s special Uefa guest.
And here’s Giorgio Marchetti! He’ll run us through the rules of the draw.
Off to Uefa headquarters we go! Pedro Pinto is master of ceremonies. “What a group stage it was, goals, goals, goals,” he says, like that’s a good thing. You’re not fooling me, Pedro. It was a chore.
In the BT Studio, Michael Owen, Owen Hargreaves and Steve McManaman. Michael Owen didn’t win the Champions League. He only won the Uefa Cup. That draws some patronising laughter from “Hargo” and “Macca”. Banter.
“While we are waiting for the UEFA politburo to consume their tasty viands, may I point out that the list of possible draws for Leicester City contains one error - they can’t be drawn against Juventus because both are group winners and are therefore seeded,” says Kim Speight.
Good, you’re paying attention. That was a test. You passed.
Hello and welcome to live coverage of Arsenal being drawn against Bayern Munich or Real Madrid. Or knowing their luck, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. Yes, they’ve finally gone and won their group, but a brief flick through Uefa rulebook shows that Arsenal must crash out of the Champions League in the round of 16, so their supporters have already mentally prepared themselves for the inevitability of a daunting draw against one of Europe’s giants. Arsene Wenger can gaze longingly at Benfica or Porto all he wants, but there’s no escaping fate.
Winning your group isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, you know. Take Leicester City, who could be drawn against the French, German, Italian or European champions, or Juventus, who could land PSG, Bayern or Real Madrid. Then again, the Pep Guardiola Experiment woke up this morning hoping to avoid Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Juventus, or indeed anyone who’s worked out that there’s a strong chance of scoring a goal if one of your strikers simply stands near Aleksandar Kolarov for a few minutes.
But enough of trying to predict who’s getting who. Let’s get on with the draw. We’ve waited long enough, after all, having sat through the gnawingly dull group stage, which treated us to few surprises and little in the way of sporting drama or tension. The fun is set to begin at 11am GMT, although I have been advised that Uefa suits have been treating themselves to breakfast, so maybe come back in five or six hours to see how we’re set. Before then, however, check out the various permutations below.
Group winners
Arsenal can play: Benfica, Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, Real Madrid, Porto, Sevilla.
Atletico Madrid can play: PSG, Benfica, Manchester City, Bayer Leverkusen, Porto.
Barcelona can play: PSG, Benfica, Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, Porto.
Borussia Dortmund can play: PSG, Benfica, Manchester City, Porto, Sevilla.
Juventus can play: PSG, Benfica, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, Real Madrid, Porto.
Leicester can play: PSG, Benfica, Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, Real Madrid, Sevilla.
Monaco can play: Benfica, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Sevilla, Porto.
Napoli can play: PSG, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, Real Madrid, Porto, Sevilla.
Runners up
Bayern Munich can play: Arsenal, Napoli, Barcelona, Monaco,
Leicester City, Juventus.
Bayer Leverkusen can play: Arsenal, Napoli, Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, Leicester City, Juventus.
Benfica can play: Arsenal, Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, Monaco, Borussia Dortmund, Leicester City, Juventus.
Manchester City can play: Napoli, Atlético Madrid, Monaco, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus.
PSG can play: Napoli, Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Leicester City, Juventus.
Real Madrid can play: Arsenal, Napoli, Monaco, Leicester City, Juventus.
Porto can play: Arsenal, Napoli, Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, Monaco, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus.
Sevilla can play: Arsenal, Napoli, Monaco, Borussia Dortmund, Leicester City.
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