The draw for the round of 16 of the Uefa Champions League was conducted in Nyon, Switzerland, on Monday to decide the fate of the best teams from the group stages.
UEFA director of competitions Giorgio Marchetti was the chief adjudicator of the process, conducted by UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino and assisted by final ambassador Karl-Heinz Riedle.
It was a straightforward draw, with seeded teams (group stage winners) placed in one pot and unseeded teams (runners-ups) in another.
Seeded group winners will be away in the round of 16 first legs on 17/18 and 24/25 February and at home in the return matches on 10/11 and 17/18 March.
Holders Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, FC Bayern München, FC Barcelona, Chelsea FC, FC Porto and Juventus are the seven past winners bidding to add to their trophy cabinets at the Berlin Olympic Stadium final on June 6, 2015.
And there goes the draw for the 12th edition of the UEFA Champions League since the knockout round of 16 replaced the second group stage:
Paris v Chelsea
This is a repeat of last season’s quarter-finals tie. Chelsea made up for a 3-1 defeat in Paris with a 2-0 win in the return leg at Stamford Bridge to progress (on away goals) to the semi-finals, where they eventually lost to Atletico Madrid.
This tie will see PSG’s David Luiz reunite with his former Chelsea team-mates after leaving for the Parc des Princes in the summer for a reported €50m. A member of the ‘Blues’ side that won the 2012 championship on penalties against Bayern Munich, the Brazilian scored three times in 25 Champions League appearances for the Stamford Bridge club.
Manchester City v Barcelona
You all remember we have been down this road before barely ten months ago, when Barcelona ran away with a 2-0 win in Manchester and 2-1 success at the Camp Nou in last season’s round of 16.
City might have qualified for the round of 16 from bizarre circumstances after winning two points from their first four games before beating Bayern Munich 3-2 (having been two goals down) at the Etihad Stadium and AS Roma 2-0 away to advance. Manuel Pellegrini’s men still have ambitions.
Lionel Messi will also be looking to add to his all-time record 75 Champions League goals having overtaken former Real Madrid striker Raul Gonzalez in the group stages.
Txiki Begiristain, Manchester City sporting director: “We don’t like facing Barcelona very much, we would have preferred to face a team that isn’t as strong. We have recovered our confidence with the wins over Bayern and Roma. We hope we’ll reach our best form when the tie with Barcelona comes around, because that’s the only way we’ll be able to beat them.”
Leverkusen v Atlético
Bayern Leverkusen are looking to advance beyond the last-16/second group stage for the first time since reaching the 2002 final.
Their most recent meeting was in the 2010/11 UEFA Europa League group stage, when both legs ended 1-1.
Juventus v Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund are battling relegation in their domestic league but have done enough to emerge as one of the 8 seeded teams in Monday’s draw by winning their pool.
Juventus beat Dortmund 6-1 over two legs in the 1993 UEFA Cup final, but the German side got their revenge in the UEFA Champions League final four years later, winning 3-1 in Munich.
Pavel Nedvěd, Juventus director: “There are a few teams who are almost impossible to compete with, so we are happy to have a side against whom we have a chance.
“We have to be very careful because Dortmund have young, talented players. It could have been worse because there was still Bayern and Madrid when Borussia’s name came out. It will be a very even tie.”
Schalke v Real Madrid
We now present the most-dreaded Real Madrid- on a 20-game winning run after Friday’s victory at UD Almeria and were the only team to take maximum points in the group stages.
Can Roberto Di Matteo’s Schalke beat the ‘Record Breakers’ to a quarter-final placement? One thing is for sure, the Italian led Chelsea to their maiden triumph in 2012.
Real Madrid overwhelmed Schalke in last season’s round of 16, winning 6-1 in Gelsenkirchen and 3-1 in Spain; Cristiano Ronaldo scored four times in the tie.
Shakhtar v Bayern
FC Shakhtar will be counting on their Brazilian forward Luiz Adriano against the 2013 champions come February. Adriano scored nine goals in the previous round to equal Real’s Ronaldo’s record for most goals in the group stages set last season.
This is the first meeting between both clubs.
Arsenal v Monaco
Likewise the previous entry, Arsenal and Monaco have never met before, but Arsène Wenger was in charge of Monaco between 1987 and 1994, winning Ligue 1 (1988) and the Coupe de France (1991).
It is a clash of two previous runners-ups; AS Monaco in 2004 (lost to Porto) and Arsenal in 2006 (lost to Barcelona).
Jérémy Toulalan, Monaco midfielder: “We did well against Arsenal in our friendly game [a 1-0 win on 3 August in London], but a totally different challenge lies ahead.”
Arsenal will bid to end a four-year run of last-16 elimination when they host the principality club in February.
Basel v Porto
Porto and Basel have also never played before.
First leg fixtures
17 February: Paris v Chelsea, Shakhtar v Bayern
18 February: Schalke v Real Madrid, Basel v Porto
24 February: Manchester City v Barcelona, Juventus v Dortmund
25 February: Leverkusen v Atlético, Arsenal v Monaco
Second leg fixtures
10 March: Real Madrid v Schalke, Porto v Basel
11 March: Chelsea v Paris, Bayern v Shakhtar
17 March: Atlético v Leverkusen, Monaco v Arsenal
18 March: Barcelona v Manchester City, Dortmund v Juventus
