Champions League round of 16 draw today

Switzerland European giants will know their next opponents in the Champions League, after the draw at UEFA headquarters at 6pm today, December 18, Hanoi time.

The eight group winners and seeded teams in the round of 16 include Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Real Sociedad, Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Man City and Barca.

The eight runners-up are Copenhagen, PSV Eindhoven, Napoli, Inter, Lazio, PSG, Leipzig and Porto.

The Round of 16 consists of the eight seeded group winners and eight runners-up. Teams from the same seed, group stage or country cannot meet. The group winners will play at home in the second leg.

With reigning Champions League runner-up Inter Milan, reigning Serie A champions Napoli, and reigning Ligue 1 champions PSG in the second group, today's draw promises to create many exciting matches.

Striker Kylian Mbappe applauds PSG fans after a 1-1 draw with Dortmund at the Westfalen Stadium in the final round of Group F of the Champions League on December 13, 2023. Photo: AFP

According to bookmaker BeGambleAware , defending champions Man City are still the strongest candidate with odds of successfully defending the title of 2/1 (bet 1 win 2). Following them are Bayern (4/1), Real (13/2), Arsenal (8/1), PSG (14/1), Barca (16/1), Atletico (20/1), Inter (25/1), Dortmund (33/1) and Napoli (40/1).

The first legs of the Champions League round of 16 will take place on 13/2-14/2 and 20/2-21/2024, with the second legs taking place on 5/3-6/3 and 12/3-13/3. UEFA will then hold the quarter-final draw on 15/3. From this round onwards, the Champions League will be drawn randomly, so teams from the same country can meet. The four teams drawn first in each of the four pairs will play the first leg at home.

After the quarter-final draw, UEFA will draw the semi-final brackets. Teams will therefore know their potential opponents in the last four. Finally, the organizers will draw lots to determine the "home team" in the final - the match will take place at Wembley Stadium, London on June 1.

The first legs of the quarter-finals will be played on 9 and 10 April, with the second legs taking place a week later. The first legs of the semi-finals will be played on 30 April and 1 May, with the second legs taking place a week later. The final match of the Champions League this season will be on 1 June.

Also today, the draw for the Europa League knockout play-off round will take place at 7pm. In the Europa League, only the top teams will go straight to the round of 16, while the runners-up will play two play-off matches against the third-placed clubs in the Champions League. The first legs will take place on February 15 and the return matches will take place a week later.

Second-placed teams: Freiburg, Marseille, Qarabag, Rennes, Roma, Sparta Praha, Sporting CP, Toulouse

Teams relegated from the Champions League: Benfica, Braga, Feyenoord, Galatasaray, Lens, AC Milan, Shakhtar Donetsk, Young Boys

The eight play-off winners will advance to the round of 16, along with the group winners, West Ham, Brighton, Rangers, Atalanta, Liverpool, Villarreal, Slavia Prague and Leverkusen. The draw for the round of 16 will take place on 23 February. The first legs will be played on 7 March and the second legs on 14 March.

UEFA will then draw the quarter-finals on 15 March. The first legs of the quarter-finals will be played on 11 April, with the second legs taking place a week later. Similarly, the first legs of the semi-finals will be played on 2 May, with the second legs taking place a week later. This season's Europa League title match will be played at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on 22 May.

UEFA will then draw the play-off round of the Europa Conference League - a tournament with a similar format and match schedule to the Europa League. Accordingly, the eight second-placed teams of the Europa Conference League group stage will meet the eight third-placed teams of the Europa League group stage. The eight winners will advance to the Europa Conference League round of 16 along with the eight group winners. This season's final will take place at the Agia Sophia Stadium, Athens on May 29.

Group winners: Lille, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Viktoria Plzen, Club Brugge, Aston Villa, Fiorentina, PAOK, Fenerbahce

Group runners-up: Bodo/Glimt, Dinamo Zagreb, Ferencvaros, Frankfurt, Gent, Legia, Ludogorets, Slovan Bratislava

Teams relegated from Europa League: Ajax, Maccabi Haifa, Molde, Olympiacos, Real Betis, Servette, Sturm Graz, Union SG

Hong Duy

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