The eagerly anticipated draw for the first knockout round in Europe’s Champions League takes place on Friday in Nyon, Switzerland. Group stage play finished last week with teams leaving us with some interesting match-ups to consider for the late February action kickoff.
Under the rules of the draw, group winners are matched up against runner-ups, teams from the same country cannot be matched up against each other, and teams from the same group cannot face each other in the first knockout round.
The knockout rounds are home and away matches with the group winner having the perceived advantage of hosting the second match.
The biggest surprise from the group stage would have to be what unfolded in Group B. Highly-touted Inter Milan with their “special” coach Jose Mourinho barely qualified with two losses and scoring only two goals in three home matches. Panathinaikos of Greece won the group and will be the preferred choice for runner-up teams to play.
Two minor surprises are English “Big Four” teams Chelsea and Arsenal failing to win their groups. Two teams with excellent Champions League pedigrees—Bayern Munich and Juventus—returned to the competition and won their groups. Defending champion Manchester United, Barcelona, and Liverpool are group winners, as expected.
Of the 16 teams remaining, four are from England and Spain, three are from Italy, two are from Portugal, while Germany, France, and Greece each have one representative.
Some of the potentially mouthwatering match-ups could include: Manchester United vs. Real Madrid, Liverpool vs. Inter Milan, Barcelona vs. Chelsea, or Bayern Munich vs. Arsenal. There are others, of course, and Friday can’t come soon enough for fans of Europe’s Champions League.
| Group | Winner | Runner-up |
| A | AS Roma (ITA) | Chelsea (ENG) |
| B | Panathinaikos (GRE) | Inter Milan (ITA) |
| C | Barcelona (SPA) | Sporting Lisbon (POR) |
| D | Liverpool (ENG) | Atletico Madrid (SPA) |
| E | Manchester United (ENG) | Villarreal (SPA) |
| F | Bayern Munich (GER) | Lyon (FRA) |
| G | FC Porto (POR) | Arsenal (ENG) |
| H | Juventus (ITA) | Real Madrid (SPA) |
