The Champions League draw for the play-off rounds has been made – with some big ties ahead.
Not that Arsenal, Aston Villa and Liverpool had to worry, having qualified for the top Round of 16 already, as top-eight seeds, along with the likes of Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Bayer Leverkusen, Inter Milan and Lille have also qualified.
Some love the new format, others are less convinced. Several of Europe's elite are perhaps in the latter camp, as they anxiously await the draw…
Champions League draw: How do the play-offs work?
Clubs are paired, according to where they finished in the table – and the higher you finished, the lower the opponent finished. For example, Atalanta and Borussia Dortmund finished 9th and 10th respectively – one of them gets draw against one of Sporting or Club Brugge, who finished 23rd and 24th respectively.
That means that Manchester City or Celtic, who finished 21st and 22nd respectively, will have to face either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich, 11th and 12th respectively. Eesh.
A collection of four clubs then gets to face a pairing of the seeded top eight. For example, Liverpool or Barcelona will face Monaco, Brest, Paris Saint-Germain or Benfica in the next round.
With the draw made, here's who plays who…
Club seedings
Entering the round of 16, seeded:
- Liverpool
- Barcelona
- Arsenal
- Inter Milan
- Atletico Madrid
- Bayer Leverkusen
- Lille
- Aston Villa
Entering the play-offs, seeded:
- Atalanta
- Borussia Dortmund
- Real Madrid
- Bayern Munich
- Milan
- PSV
- Paris Saint-Germain
- Benfica
Entering the play-offs, unseeded:
- Monaco
- Brest
- Feyenoord
- Juventus
- Celtic
- Manchester City
- Sporting
- Club Brugge
The draw in full
Knockout phase play-offs
- Brest v Paris Saint-Germain
- Sporting v Borussia Dortmund
- Manchester City v Real Madrid
- Juventus v PSV
- Feyenoord v Milan
- Celtic v Bayern Munich
- Club Brugge v Atalanta
- Monaco v Benfica
Round of 16
- Monaco, Brest, Paris Saint-Germain or Benfica v Liverpool
- Monaco, Brest, Paris Saint-Germain or Benfica v Barcelona
- Sporting, Club Brugge, Atalanta, Borussia Dortmund v Lille
- Sporting, Club Brugge, Atalanta, Borussia Dortmund v Aston Villa
- Feyenoord, Juventus, Milan or PSV v Arsenal
- Feyenoord, Juventus, Milan or PSV v Inter Milan
- Celtic, Manchester City, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich v Atletico Madrid
- Celtic, Manchester City, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich v Bayer Leverkusen
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