And in the Europa League, what a brilliant draw for Graham Potter and Ostersund, who will face Arsenal:
More on the Swedish club managed by an Englishman facing Arsenal in the round of 32:
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How will Paris Saint-Germain cope with Real Madrid?
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I’d love to hang around, but some of us have got other draws to liveblog, so I’m going to sign off. What a draw it’s been, though: brief, absolutely devoid of musical interludes and producing some glorious, lip-smacking encounters to look forward to. Let’s hope the Europa League draw treats us just as well. Here’s a report on this one. Bye!
A highlight of previous Barcelona v Chelsea Champions League clashes:
Meanwhile it’s Chelsea v Barcelona, though are some reasons for the English side to feel optimistic about that one.
7 - Chelsea are unbeaten in their last seven games against Barcelona in the Champions League (W2, D5). Run.
— OptaChelsea (@OptaChels) December 11, 2017
Lionel Messi: Has never scored in 8 appearances against Chelsea -- It's his worst record against a team in his career pic.twitter.com/yBcYErQXTe
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) December 11, 2017
A couple of absolute crackers there. Paris St-Germain v Real Madrid is particularly phwoarsome.
So the draw in full:
Juventus v Tottenham
Basel v Manchester City
Porto v Liverpool
Sevilla v Manchester United
Real Madrid v Paris St-Germain
Shakhtar Donetsk v Roma
Chelsea v Barcelona
Bayern Munich v Besiktas
And that leaves Bayern Munich to play Besiktas, completing the draw.
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It’s Chelsea v Barcelona!
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Chelsea are up next. Will they get Barcelona or Besiktas? It’s win or bust here...
And Shakhtar Donetsk play Roma!
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Shakhtar Donetsk can get Barcelona, Besiktas or Roma...
It’s Real Madrid v Paris St-Germain!
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Real Madrid are up next, and they can play Besiktas, Roma or PSG.
It’s Sevilla v Manchester United!
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And on to Sevilla, who can play Besiktas, PSG, Roma or Manchester United.
And it’s Porto v Liverpool!
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Next up is Porto, who can play Manchester United, PSG, Roma, Barcelona or Liverpool.
And it’s Basel v Manchester City!
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Next up is Basel, who can play PSG, Roma, Barcelona, Liverpool, Manchester City or Beşiktaş.
It’s Juventus v Tottenham Hotspur!
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So they draw a runner-up first, and then match them with a group winner. The first name out of the hat is Juventus. They will play one of Manchester United, Paris, Liverpool, Manchester City, Beşiktaş and Tottenham Hotspur.
He’s finished. It’s time to get down to action. They’re ready to pluck balls.
But no plucking yet: first Michael Heselschwerdt, the Uefa Head of Club Competitions, has to explain the rules and run through some details. This ground is very much already covered further down this page.
Xabi thinks the number of English clubs in the draw “is great news”. “Now the big teams are coming,” he warns. He has now taken draw position.
Marchetti introduces a glamorous assistant, in the shape of Xabi Alonso.
“It is absolutely impossible to predict the two teams that will take part in the final,” he says. It isn’t, though, not really. It’s only quite difficult. Let’s not go overboard here.
Uefa’s deputy general secretary, Giorgio Marchetti, is introduced. He’s going to be in charge of the actual draw, and he also sends best wishes from the absent Ceferin: “He wishes the best of luck to the teams that have reached this stage of the competition.”
And after bigging up his competition for a while, he introduces a lengthy team-introduction video montage.
It’s on! Pedro Pinto, Uefa’s managing director of communications, is in charge.
Pictures just in of the Uefa president, Aleksander Ceferin. The reason he doesn’t look very excited is that he’s in Bulgaria, and thus about 1,700km away from where the action is. This looks to me like a serious diary malfunction.
Bookmakers make Paris St-Germain the current favourites, at around 7/2, to win the big pot come May, ahead of Manchester City, Real Madrid and Barcelona. Basel are the rank outsiders, at around 250-1.
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In a rare twist for football governance, there’s nothing untoward happening here: it’s because Besiktas won their group, and Chelsea are the only English team that didn’t.
@Simon_Burnton how come Chelsea are the only English team who can draw Besiktas? Doesn't that mean tat the draw is a little bit "fixed"?
— Cönor Whelan (@Conorwhelanire) December 11, 2017
Besiktas are currently fourth in Turkey’s Super Lig, and drew 1-1 with Kayserispor yesterday. There isn’t a second-placed team (apart from Porto, who can’t play them) who won’t be crossing their fingers and dreaming of Istanbul right now. Or at least they would be, if teams had fingers and dreams.
Here’s who the English clubs could end up facing. Chelsea have a 66.66% chance of serious difficulty, but they’re also the only English team who might draw Besiktas:
Chelsea: Paris St-Germain, Barcelona, Besiktas.
Liverpool: Basel, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Shakhtar Donetsk, Porto, Real Madrid.
Manchester City: Basel, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Sevilla, Porto, Real Madrid.
Manchester United: Bayern Munich, Juventus, Sevilla, Shakhtar Donetsk, Porto or Real Madrid.
Tottenham: Basel, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Sevilla, Shakhtar Donetsk, Porto.
Hello world!
There seem to be a lot of draws about at the moment. The dust only just having settled after the World Cup pot-picking party a couple of weeks back, it’s time to find out who plays who in the first knock-out round of this season’s Champions League. The draw will take place in Nyon, home of Uefa, and sees no fewer than four English teams among the seeded group winners. On the plus side, since the Champions League adopted the current format 72.3% of group winners have progressed through their round of 16 ties. On the down side, there are some devilishly difficult opponents on the list of runners-up, including both of last season’s finalists. The competition small print dictates that Real Madrid have a 50% chance of playing an English team, but that Juventus have a 66% chance of being forced to fly to England in early March. Other than the English teams themselves, the only side that cannot possibly play Premier League opponents is Roma.
So, without further ado, these are the names that will be printed on paper, folded up and crammed into small plastic balls ahead of the draw:
Group winners
Manchester United
Paris Saint-Germain
Roma
Barcelona
Liverpool
Manchester City
Besiktas
Tottenham
Group runners-up
Basel
Bayern
Chelsea
Juventus
Sevilla
Shakhtar Donetsk
Porto
Real Madrid
The key rules: No team can be re-paired with a team they already faced in the group stage, or with a side from their own country.
The dates: Four first legs will be played on Tuesday and Wednesday 13/14 February, and the remainder the following week. Group winners will be away in the first leg. The return matches will be held on 6/7 and 13/14 March. The draw for the quarter-finals will be held that Friday, 16 March.
And that is very much all you need to know. Welcome. Let’s get busy with balls.
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