Champions League Draw

MrJoeSoap

BBC wrote:

Four British teams face an anxious wait to see who they play in the last 16 of the Champions League.

The draw will take place at Uefa headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, on Friday 16 December at 1100 GMT.

Defending champions Liverpool and Arsenal are in the first pot of teams having won their groups, and cannot meet Chelsea in the next round.

Britain's fourth representative, Rangers, came second in their group and could face either Liverpool or Arsenal.

Group winners
AC Milan
Arsenal
Barcelona
Inter Milan
Juventus
Liverpool
Lyon
Villarreal

Group runners-up
Ajax
Bayern Munich
Benfica
Chelsea
PSV Eindhoven
Rangers
Real Madrid
Werder Bremen

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Draw conditions:

# Teams from the same national association cannot be drawn together.

# Liverpool have no 'country protection' because of the special circumstances of their entry into the competition, but cannot face Chelsea (same group) or Arsenal (group winners like Liverpool).

# The winners and runners-up of the same group cannot be drawn together.

# Group winners will be kept apart in the draw.

# Group runners-up will play the first leg of the two-legged knock-out ties at home, giving the group winners the perceived advantage of playing at home in the second leg.

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British teams:

Arsenal
Could face: Bayern Munich, Benfica, PSV Eindhoven, Rangers, Real Madrid or Werder Bremen

The Gunners eased through the group stages of the Champions League but could still face some big names in the second round.

Real Madrid are potential opponents and there is the prospect of a repeat against Bayern Munich, who knocked out the Londoners at this stage 12 months ago.

Chelsea
Could face: AC Milan, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Juventus, Lyon or Villarreal.

The Blues were runners-up to Liverpool in the group stages of the Champions League, and could face any of the other group winners, bar Arsenal, in the last 16.

This includes Italian giants Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan, as well as Spanish heavyweights Barcelona, who they met in an acrimonious two-legged tie in the last 16 last season.

Liverpool
Could face: Ajax, Bayern Munich, Benfica, PSV Eindhoven, Rangers, Real Madrid or Werder Bremen

Teams from the same national association cannot be drawn together in the last 16 of the Champions League.

Despite Liverpool having no such protection because of the special circumstances of their entry into the competition, they cannot face Chelsea, who were in the same group, or fellow group-winners Arsenal.

Rangers
Could face: AC Milan, Arsenal, Barcelona, Juventus, Liverpool, Lyon or Villarreal.

Rangers became the first Scottish club to qualify from the group stages of the Champions League with their brave 1-1 draw against Inter Milan.

The result helped Alex McLeish hang on to his job at the Ibrox helm, but second spot behind Inter means they could pick one of Europe's biggest names out of the hat.

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Past winners
Among the eight group winners and eight runners-up are holders Liverpool FC and the team they overcame in last season's final, AC Milan. Alongside those two sides, respectively the third and second most successful in this competition, are Real Madrid CF, who stand alone with nine triumphs.

Eight countries
Eight countries are represented, with all three Italian clubs among the top seeds. England and Spain also have three teams in contention, while Germany and the Netherlands have two each among the second seeds. Meanwhile, Olympique Lyonnais, SL Benfica and Rangers FC are the sole challengers from their respective leagues.

Villarreal record
Villarreal CF are negotiating their first UEFA Champions League campaign, and have already made history. Their 1-0 Matchday 6 victory against LOSC Lille Métropole saw them qualify as group winners despite scoring only three goals in six games - a record low for a team topping a pool. Group D, from which Benfica also advanced, featured only 12 goals in as many fixtures - another record low.

Past finals
The eight winners of the group stage sections will be drawn against runners-up, although clubs from the same association cannot be paired together. Liverpool do not have country protection yet cannot be pitted against the only English side among the second seeds, Chelsea FC, as they met in the group stage. The draw could produce a repeat of 13 former European Cup finals, including Real Madrid-Milan from 1958 and, most recently from 1998, the Spanish giants against Juventus.

galwaydude

i have a feeling in me waters that liverpool will get one of real madrid, bayern munich or rangers but the gut feeling is madrid. Bring emm on.

super_furry

Liverpool v Rangers and Chelsea v Barcelona please Mr Blatter.

Guy:Incognito

Is this being televised?

Oriel

I can see us taking PSV Eindhoven.

MrJoeSoap

You can usually watch live on uefa.com I think. Failing that maybe SkySports news have it, I'm not too sure.

super_furry

sinecurea wrote:

I can see us taking PSV Eindhoven.

I doubt it - that's who they got in yesterday's rehersal draw.

MrJoeSoap

Surely each team has an equal chance of being drawn (1-in-6 or 1-in-7) against any other team? I never quite understand people "having feelings" about who is coming out to be paired with whom, surely its nothing more than random guesswork?

RE*AC*TOR

would fancy benfica myself...

RE*AC*TOR

Chelsea V Barcelona

ouch

MrJoeSoap

Chelsea - Barca!
Real - Arsenal!
Bremen - Juventus
Bayern - Milan
PSV - Lyon
Ajax - Inter
Benfica - Liverpool
Rangers - Villarreal

LizardKing

Guardian have a live texty thing for the draw

http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,1563,1669001,00.html

RE*AC*TOR

Real Madrid V Arsenal

wow

RE*AC*TOR

Werder Bremen V Juventus

RE*AC*TOR

Bayern Munich V AC Milan

another good match

RE*AC*TOR

PSV Eindhoven V Lyon

RE*AC*TOR

Ajax V Inter

gimmick

Liverpool Vs Benfica

RE*AC*TOR

Benfica V Liverpool

yes! delicious!

Hobart

Liverpool (The Champions) draw Benfica
Barcelona draw Chelsea lol
Inter Milan draw Ajax
Juventus draw Werder Bremen
Lyon draw PSV Eindhoven
Villarreal draw Rangers
Arse draw Real Madrid
AC Milan draw Bayern Munich

GO on you good things.

RE*AC*TOR

which means Rangers V Villareal

The Clown Man

RE*AC*TOR wrote:

Benfica V Liverpool

yes! delicious!

Bastards!

emc2

Some smashing games there !!! Can't wait.

Villain

Handy one for the pool, Chelsea and Barca and Real Madrid and Arsenal are 2 class games.

MrJoeSoap

Some cracking ties in prospect!

Barcelona-Chelsea, Real-Arsenal and AC Milan-Munich, to name but three.

Raskolnikov

I bet Mourinho is livid, had they topped their group, they would have drawn Benfica rather than Barca

gimmick

irish1 wrote:

Handy one for the pool, Chelsea and Barca and Real Madrid and Arsenal are 2 class games.

Arsenal Vs Real is certainly the tie of the round IMO. Both teams are smewhat shakey, but when they play well, they both really play fantastic football.

Chelsea - Barca, if this is anything like last years games, I cant wait.

Inter Vs Ajax sticks out as a nice one as well.

AC Vs Bayern comes close to being the tie of the round.

Pity Lyon and PSV drew each other so early.

Jivin Turkey

I'm increasing my stake on Juve.

Pleased with Liverpool's draw to be honest. No games are a pushover at this stage, but I'd expect them to be in the hat for the next round.

The Clown Man

The Clown Man wrote:

Bastards!

Barcelona draw Chelsea lol
I predict:

Chelsea draw Barcalona - Cant predict that but will have to swing it Chelsea's way for allegiance sake
Inter Milan draw Ajax - Inter
Juventus draw Werder Bremen - Juve
Lyon draw PSV Eindhoven - Lyon
Villarreal draw Rangers - Villarreal
Liverpool draw Benfica - Liverpool
Arsenal draw Real Madrid - Madrid (Will be a fansatic game though)
AC Milan draw Bayern Munich - Bayern (Milan are kak a this year)

Jivin Turkey

Who did United get? They always get an easy draw

Villain

Nice one Jivin LMAO.

Hobart

Jivin Turkey wrote:

Who did United get? They always get an easy draw

The inter toto draw is not on until 12!

Raskolnikov

Chelsea draw Barcalona - Chelsea to win, Barca are poor in defence still
Inter Milan draw Ajax - Inter should do this easy enough
Juventus draw Werder Bremen - Juve, easy enough for them
Lyon draw PSV Eindhoven - Lyon
Villarreal draw Rangers - Villarreal, bye bye McLeish
Liverpool draw Benfica - Liverpool, easiest draw bar Rangers
Arsenal draw Real Madrid - Arsenal if Henry can shine which I think he will
AC Milan draw Bayern Munich - AC to scrape it on penos or something

super_furry

It would have been Liverpool and United if they had gone through.......

emc2

Chelsea have essien banned for the 2 barca games as well

HashSlinging

lads liverpool 14 - 1 to win the champions league!

whiskeyman

HashSlinging wrote:

lads liverpool 14 - 1 to win the champions league!

I have a few bob with slightly better odds that this.
Put a good few on last year at 16-1 (just before Juve games) and think they have a damn good chance again. They way they play in Europe can beat any team... if they keep their form!

Necronomicon

super_furry wrote:

It would have been Liverpool and United if they had gone through.......

No it wouldn't, teams from the same country can't draw each other in the first knock-out stage.

Some great ties there, Chelsea vs. Barca last season at Stamford Bridge was probably the game of the campaign. And Madrid vs. Arsenal, what a tie in prospect!

And who said topping the group didn't matter.....Liverpool get Benfica, and Chelsea get Barca. Looking forward to it.

mchurl

Chelsea V barca , i cant wait for this one!! Arsenal real aint bad either!!

Ronan|Raven

Necromomicon wrote:

No it wouldn't, teams from the same country can't draw each other in the first knock-out stage.

Some great ties there, Chelsea vs. Barca last season at Stamford Bridge was probably the game of the campaign. And Madrid vs. Arsenal, what a tie in prospect!

And who said topping the group didn't matter.....Liverpool get Benfica, and Chelsea get Barca. Looking forward to it.

They could have as Liverpool have no country protection.

Davei141

Necromomicon wrote:

No it wouldn't, teams from the same country can't draw each other in the first knock-out stage.

Some great ties there, Chelsea vs. Barca last season at Stamford Bridge was probably the game of the campaign. And Madrid vs. Arsenal, what a tie in prospect!

And who said topping the group didn't matter.....Liverpool get Benfica, and Chelsea get Barca. Looking forward to it.

Liverpool dont have country protection.

Necronomicon

Davei141 wrote:

Liverpool dont have country protection.

Ooh yeah, my mistake. Completely forgot that.

PHB

Yep, it woulda been United and Liverpool, that woulda been fun.

Liverpool have a fairly easy enough draw, I'd be suprised if they didn't win it, that said I think Benfica are better than they are made out to be, and while United played badly against them in the second leg, they played quitewell in the first and only scored in the last minute.
No walkover, but if Gerrard is on form Benfica have no chance.

Chelsea vs. Barca is why I think this draw should be seeded more
That is sucha ****ty tie, I wanted to see Barca and Chelsea play a bit more on the european stage, not one of them get knocked out.
I expect Barca to beat them this time, as they should be able to deal with Chelseas tactics that little bit more.

Arsenal vs. Real Madrid.
I actually think this is the best draw that Arsenal could have hoped for.
Once they play a team that plays football aswell, Arsenal are unreal. Also Henry will want to preform in front of the Real Madrid team cause em......

All in all, I think Arsenal have the best chance of going through, only by a tiny bit, following very closely by Liverpool, and then Chelsea last.

HashSlinging

Necromomicon wrote:

Ooh yeah, my mistake. Completely forgot that.

....sake dont let it happen again.

RE*AC*TOR

The Chelsea Barcelona match is going to be important for the whole competition. Its essentially pairing the first and second favourites to win against each other. As a Liverpool fan I'd like to see Chelsea knocked out, for a number of reasons. Obviously I hate José Mourinho and would enjoy revelling in his defeat. Secondly if Liverpool ended up playing one of these teams later in the tournament - I'd fancy our chances better against Barca.

The Rooster

Out of the 4 teams in the United group, I thought Benfica were the best with the ball, but the worst defensively. They pass it around very well and have plenty of flair. They might lack a little cutting edge.

Liverpool favourites, but not a gimme.

Kingp35

Some really excellent draws there. Im delighted with Lyons draw as I have a few quid on them to win the trophy. I think that, although Barcelonas defence isnt up to much, they will beat Chelsea this year. They have been in fantastic form all season and will just edge them out imo. As for Real and Arsenal I expect Arsenal to come through this. They have a far better defence than Madrid have and I think will tell in the end. I think Henry will be a big factor though and he will have to perform well.

AC Milan and Bayern is another cracking tie. It should be very close but Milan have looked shakey all season and their defence has been particularily poor which is very strange for Milan. I think Bayern will just edge this one. Villareal willl be too strong for Rangers but its probably one of the best draws they could have hoped for. Inter and Ajax I expect Inter to coe through fairly easily.

Excellent draw for Liverpool but I think many people are underestimating Benfica. They are an excellent footballing side who will cause any team problems. They tend not to be too great on the road so I think the Anfield game will be vitally important. Wont be as easy as people are making it out that is for sure.

PHB

Yep, and they have the tough part sorted.
Now they have 2 months to deal with Liverpool defensivly, and Liverpools strength isn't in their attack.
Also Benfica won't come out to beat them, they'll play it cool, so its gona be an interesting game.

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I would have thought, goign by current league form, that Juve and Chelsea would be favorites, with Barca close behind. Barca being on a similar points total to Man Utd and Liverpool btw But thats really irrelevent, just pointing out, Juve have the best league record of anyone this season, and are certinaly the favorites for a lot of people.
Just incase you dont know, a midfield of
Vieira - Emerson - Nedved

What more could you want

jank

Arsenal V Real...


BRING IT ON MOTHER ****ERS!!!!

meditraitor

I wonder what are the chances of Liverpool signing Simao in the january transfer window now???

Pigman II

Have these ties been paired up to determine the quaterfinal games or is it still and open draw for that?

BTW, I think Chelsea will beat Barca again