UEFA Champions League Draw - The Last 16

17 Dec, 2018 10:40 / Updated 6 years ago

The knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League formally get underway with the draw for the matches in the Last 16 of the 2018 competition. Follow the action with RT Sport.

17 December 2018

Europa League draw

That's the UEFA Champions League Last 16 draw done and dusted. Now we move on to the draw for the UEFA Europa League knockout stages.

CLICK HERE to follow UEFA Europa League draw

Thirty-two teams remain in the competition, with the eight third-placed teams from the Champions League group stages joining the 24 qualifiers from the Europa League group stages for the start of the knockout phase.

Looking at the eight ties, a few matchups stand out straight away.

Atletico Madrid vs Juventus will pit two of the best defensive sides in Europe head to head in a fascinating clash, while Liverpool vs Bayern Munich sees a battle between two of the most decorated teams in European football. It also sees Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp renew his rivalry with Bayern from his days at Borussia Dortmund.

Barcelona will be happy with a tie against French side Lyon, who are 12 points off the pace in the Ligue 1 title race this season.

Premier League champions Manchester City will be equally content with their tie with Schalke 04, who are languishing in 13th place in the Bundesliga this season having lost twice as many games then they've won in their domestic league this season.

But Manchester United, who are struggling in the English Premier League this season, face a tougher-looking assignment against runaway Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain.

Everywhere you look there are high-quality match-ups, and it should make for an exciting start to the knockout stages of the Champions League this season.

Once the draw got underway it actually sped through pretty quickly. Here's the full list of matches for the Last 16 of the UEFA Champions League:

Schalke 04 vs Manchester City
Atletico Madrid vs Juventus
Manchester United vs Paris Saint-Germain
Tottenham Hotspur vs Borussia Dortmund
Lyon vs Barcelona
AS Roma vs FC Porto
Ajax vs Real Madrid
Liverpool vs Bayern Munich

Match 8

LIVERPOOL vs BAYERN MUNICH

Match 7

AJAX vs REAL MADRID

Match 6

AS ROMA vs FC PORTO

Match 5

LYON vs BARCELONA

Match 4

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR vs BORUSSIA DORTMUND

Match 3

MANCHESTER UNITED vs PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN

Match 2

ATLETICO MADRID vs JUVENTUS

Match 1

SCHALKE 04 vs MANCHESTER CITY

Here we go. Let's get things underway.

Key Matchups

Here's a definitive list of who could face who in the Last 16, arranged by team:

GROUP WINNERS

Borussia Dortmund
Ajax, Liverpool, Lyon, Man. United, Roma, Tottenham

Barcelona
Ajax, Liverpool, Lyon, Man. United, Roma, Schalke

Paris Saint-Germain
Ajax, Atlético, Man. United, Roma, Schalke, Tottenham

FC Porto
Ajax, Atlético, Liverpool, Lyon, Man. United, Roma, Tottenham

Bayern Munich
Atlético, Liverpool, Lyon, Man. United, Roma, Tottenham

Manchester City
Ajax, Atlético, Roma, Schalke

Real Madrid
Ajax, Liverpool, Lyon, Man. United, Schalke, Tottenham

Juventus
Ajax, Atlético, Liverpool, Lyon, Schalke, Tottenham

RUNNERS-UP

Atletico Madrid
Bayern, Juventus, Man. City, Paris, Porto

Tottenham Hotspur
Bayern, Dortmund, Juventus, Paris, Porto, Real Madrid

Liverpool
Barcelona, Bayern, Dortmund, Juventus, Porto, Real Madrid

Schalke 04
Barcelona, Juventus, Man. City, Paris, Real Madrid

Ajax
Barcelona, Dortmund, Juventus, Man. City, Paris, Porto, Real Madrid

Lyon
Barcelona, Bayern, Dortmund, Juventus, Porto, Real Madrid

AS Roma
Barcelona, Bayern, Dortmund, Man. City, Paris, Porto

Manchester United
Barcelona, Bayern, Dortmund, Paris, Porto, Real Madrid

We're about to go live

The draw is almost about to get underway. We're sure to get plenty of pomp and circumstance, as is always the case for these events. But for the fans tuning in, they just want to see who their team will face.

The opening credits are underway. Strap yourselves in. It's Champions League draw time!

Draw Rules

There are a couple of additional rules involved in today's draw.

Firstly, a team cannot be drawn to face another team from the same country. So any hopes for a Madrid derby between Real and Atletico, or a Manchester derby between City and United, will have to wait until later in the competition.

Also, teams who played against each other in the group stages of the tournament cannot be drawn together in the Last 16. So we won't be seeing a rematch between Barcelona and Tottenham in the upcoming round.

The Seeds

The draw is simple. One team from the seeded pot faces one team from the unseeded pot. 

THE SEEDED TEAMS

Barcelona

Bayern Munich

Borussia Dortmund

Juventus

Manchester City

Paris Saint-Germain

FC Porto

Real Madrid

THE UNSEEDED TEAMS

Ajax

Atletico Madrid

Liverpool

Lyon

Manchester United

AS Roma

Schalke 04

Tottenham Hotspur

Who's seeded, and who's not?

Unlike the draw for the group stages, things should be pretty straightforward for today's draw.

The teams have been split into two pits, one pot contains the group winners (the seeded teams), while the other contains the group runners-up (the unseeded teams).

It's time for the big guns!

Welcome to RT Sport's live coverage of the draw for the Last 16 of the UEFA Champions League.

The draw is due to take place at 12:00pm CET and we'll bring you live updates from the draw as the teams are paired off in the knockout stages of the competition.