Champions League Round of 16 Draw — Chaos, Drama, Confusion and Predictions
While most European football knockout round play-off draws are uneventful and monotonous, the champions league knockout round draws never fail to bring a sense of intrigue and excitement with this year’s round of 16 draw following suite.
What should have been a routine draw to start off with became a pretty chaotic and dramatic one. With the round of 16 draw, teams aren’t allowed to face other teams from the same country or teams that they faced in the group stage. Interestingly enough, one of the problems that occurred in the first draw that sent football fans, journalists, and team representatives into a commotion was that Manchester United were placed as opponents for Villarreal, which isn’t possible as they are from the same group. The second problem was that Manchester United were disregarded as potential opponents for Atletico Madrid.
This “error” by UEFA meant that the most of the English and European big hitters got favorable draws except Manchester United, who were pitted against PSG, but due to the “error”, the draw had to be happen again which meant that certain teams could’ve ended up with more challenging ties. In the second draw, this happened exactly with Liverpool and Real Madrid both getting more challenging ties, much to the chagrin of Madrid fans.
The final draw ended up being:
- FC Salzburg vs Bayern Munich
- Sporting CP vs Manchester City
- Benfica vs Ajax
- Chelsea vs Lille
- Atletico Madrid vs Manchester United
- Villarreal vs Juventus
- Inter Milan vs Liverpool
- PSG vs Real Madrid
There are quite a few straightforward ties, but equally there are some quality matchups, with the three standout ties being: Atletico Madrid vs Manchester United, Inter Milan vs Liverpool, and the most star-studded of the three PSG vs Real Madrid. The real question now becomes which teams advance to the next round? Let’s break down each tie and decide who progresses:
FC Salzburg vs Bayern Munich
As interesting as this tie could be from an attacking standpoint, as both teams play some attacking football, there is a clear winner here and one would be hard pressed to pick against Bayern Munich. Salzburg play a very similar style of football to their unofficial sister club RB Leipzig, and if Bayern’s early season 4 -1 win over RB Leipzig is any indication of how this tie might go, it is looking like a pretty straightforward progression for Bayern Munich.
Winner: Bayern Munich
Sporting CP vs Manchester City
There really is only one winner in this tie and that is Manchester City. As good as Sporting have been to eek in front of Borussia Dortmund and claim second in their group, they did allow nine goals against Ajax. It would be fair to assume that Manchester City have a more potent attack compared to Ajax and so based off that it Sporting shipping more than three goals in each leg of the tie seems all but guaranteed.
Winner: Manchester City
Benfica vs Ajax
This tie is very interesting; these two teams are well coached and have their own playing styles. Benfica, who defeated Barcelona in the group stages and pushed them to the Europa League, really have a great chance to push forward in this competition as they haven’t been pitted against one of the current European big boys. Meanwhile, Ajax have glided through their group winning six out of six group games and have the current top scorer in the Champions league in Sebastien Haller. Both teams have some really great veteran players: Otamendi and Vertonghen at Benfica, Daley Blind and Tadic at Ajax. The key to this tie will most likely be decided by who’s defense holds the opponent’s offense the quietest on that day and Benfica’s defense just has a bit more big game experience so the advantage is slightly tilted towards Benfica.
Winner: Benfica
Chelsea vs Lille
Lille are the current reigning Ligue 1 champions beating out PSG last season, while Chelsea are the current reigning European Champions beating Manchester City in the final. As great as Lille have been in the group stages, their season form has been a bit dodgy. They haven’t performed as great as they would’ve liked in the league, currently sitting at 11th, and even though they finished top in the group, it wasn’t the most convincing group stage performance from them either. Meanwhile, Chelsea should be excited as they got the easiest draw they possibly could get (both times - they got Lille in the botched draw as well). Thomas Tuchel will be pleased with this draw as it would allow his team to probably play in first or second gear and still progress. He will be able to make changes to his squad as well throughout the tie and Chelsea would still most likely progress.
Winner: Chelsea
Atletico Madrid vs Manchester United
Rangnick vs Simeone.
Ronaldo vs Atletico Madrid.
High pressing, attacking football vs deep block, defensive football.
This tie is very interesting as it pits two managers with two differing philosophies against each other, and player who has broken so many Atletico Madrid fans’ hearts. Atletico Madrid have had a terrible group stage performance, but still find themselves in the knockout rounds because the other two teams in the group, Porto and AC Milan, failed to deliver. On the other hand, Manchester United had a very shaky start to the group stages but still got through in the end thanks to some game saving Cristiano Ronaldo goals. If there is one team that would hate to face Cristiano Ronaldo that would be Atletico Madrid. This man has continuously been the blockade for Atleti going back to the Champions league final in 2016 or even the most recent 3 - 2 comeback by Juventus, where Ronaldo scored a hat-trick. With the new manager bounce and a player who is the kryptonite for Atletico, Manchester United have a decent chance to advance.
Winner: Manchester United
Villarreal vs Juventus
If this were any other year, this tie would’ve been pretty straightforward with Juventus progressing. Interestingly enough, this year Juventus haven’t played all that well in the league and even though they finished top of their group ahead of Chelsea, they still were demolished by Chelsea in the group stage. Juventus definitely aren’t the powerhouse they once were which gives Villarreal a great opportunity to take the game to Juventus. Unai Emery is a great cup coach, he’s taken Sevilla and most recently Villarreal to win the Europa League. If Villarreal are able to find a striker who can finish off the chances they produce, they have a decent chance of progressing.
Winner: Villarreal
Inter Milan vs Liverpool
Liverpool will be slightly annoyed to have gone from Salzburg to Inter Milan with the redraw, but from a positive lens they did not draw PSG. Liverpool became the first English team to win six out of six group games in what was considered the “group of death”. Their league form is also really good as they are in a hard title race with Manchester City and Chelsea. Inter Milan would also be pretty annoyed to face Liverpool as they are facing one of the top three favorites for to hoist the trophy. While this could be a tough one for Inter, they will take positives as Liverpool’s defense has been slightly shaky, though it has become more resolute as of lately with Van Dijk slowly recovering from his season ending injury last year. Liverpool, meanwhile, will go in with high hopes still as they boast a scintillating attack featuring arguably the best player in the world at the moment in Mohamed Salah. It is hard to see how Inter stop this Liverpool attack and how they stop a player who is at the peak of his game.
Winner: Liverpool
PSG vs Real Madrid
The blockbuster tie of the round. PSG will be very disappointed to go from facing Manchester United to Real Madrid. PSG, for all their attacking talent, have looked like a team of individuals that can’t perform as a unit. The front three don’t really defend so when teams attack them PSG is effectively are defending with seven players. Meanwhile, Real Madrid have had a great start to the year. Karim Benzema is playing out of his mind right now and Vini Jr. has stepped up and taking over games all by himself. It is hard to see how Real Madrid lose this tie as they have a team of experienced players who have won the trophy back to back to back and rightly should be favorites, but there is just something about the PSG team that with Messi and with their backs agains the wall they might just turn up and take over the tie.
Winner: PSG
Teams Progressing to the Quarter Finals
- Bayern Munich
- Manchester City
- Benfica
- Chelsea
- Manchester United
- Villarreal
- Liverpool
- PSG
Overall, there are some great ties and as fans there will be some exciting football being played. Leave your predictions down in the comments below and I look forward to seeing you all in February!
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