After an exciting group stage was completed last week, the draw for the Champions League round of 16 took place on Monday in order to find out which of Europe’s elite would be facing off against each other in the knockout stages.
As group winners, all three remaining English sides have been drawn away in the first leg – with the most eye-catching tie being Chelsea taking on Atletico Madrid.
The Blues fended off Sevilla, Rennes and Krasnodar to top their group and the likes of Olivier Giroud, who scored four goals in one game against Sevilla, will be key if they want to progress to the next round.
For Atletico, though, they just about scraped into the knockout stages in the final week of the group stages, progressing out of their group with Bayern Munich.
Wonderkid Joao Felix will be vital for Diego Simeone’s side as they look to repeat last season’s actions and defeat an English club in the round of 16 again.
The team they beat earlier this year, Liverpool, have been drawn away to RB Leipzig.
Despite trying to manage their injuries, the Reds made it out of Group D ahead of the likes of Ajax, Atalanta and FC Midtjylland having lost just one game.
Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane will be key for them if they want to go far in Europe again, however their opponents are no push overs.
Leipzig made it out of the ‘group of death’ along with Paris Saint-Germain at the expense of Manchester United and Istanbul Basaksehir.
Their impressive showings in the tournament so far bode well for the future, and their main defensive talent Dayot Upamecano will need to be at the top of his game if they are to hold off Salah and Co.
Manchester City have also been drawn away to a German club, travelling to Borussia Monchengladbach in the round of 16.
They are yet to lose in Europe this season, topping Group C ahead of Porto, Olympiacos and Marseille.
Kevin De Bruyne will be key for City, especially if they are going to sort their attacking struggles, while the return from injury of Sergio Aguero will also be welcomed.
For Gladbach, they beat off Shakhtar Donetsk and Inter Milan to come second in Group B – only losing out on top spot to Real Madrid.
Alassane Plea has five goals already in the Champions League this season and will be an important player across both legs for the German team.
Fellow German side, Bayern Munich are favourites to win the competition.
The current holders will travel to Lazio in February, having gone through the group stages without losing a single game.
Robert Lewandowski has been on fire this year, scoring more goals than games he has played, so will be crucial to Bayern retaining their title this time around.
For Lazio they advanced to the next round after avoiding defeat by Club Brugge – to come second in Group F behind Borussia Dortmund.
Their star player is undoubtedly Ciro Immobile, who has 11 goals in 13 games so far this season, and will be imperative if they want to get anything out of their tie with Bayern.
The biggest game to come out of the draw is Barcelona versus PSG though – with the two European giants facing off for the first time since the famous 6-1 encounter at the Camp Nou.
The Spaniards came second in Group G after losing to Juventus in their final game, although they won every other match against the likes of Dinamo Kiev and Ferencvarosi.
Lionel Messi, as always, will be the man to look out for when the two sides meet.
However, his former team-mate Neymar is one of the competition’s top goalscorers having scored six already this season, and he will be key for PSG if they are to advance.
The Parisians topped Group H, the group of death, ahead of Leipzig, United and Basaksehir, and have been on scintillating form in the Champions League.
Two of the other top scorers in the competitions are still active, one of those being Alvaro Morata.
His side Juventus visit Porto after finishing top of Group G above Barcelona.
Of course, Cristiano Ronaldo will also have a major contribution, but Morata can continue his fine form against the Portuguese club.
For Porto, they finished above Marseille and Olympiacos in Group C and will need to be on their best defensive form if they are to beat Andrea Pirlo’s side.
Dortmund have the other top scorer in Erling Haaland, who will be returning from a hamstring injury when they play Sevilla.
After topping their group, the Norwegian striker will be essential to their progression to the next round.
For Sevilla, they finished second in Group E behind Chelsea.
Their key player will be Youssef En-Nesyri who has four goals in six Champions League games so far.
Finally, Real Madrid have been drawn against Atalanta after finishing top of Group B.
They rose above Gladbach, Inter and Shakhtar to win the group and have their main man Karim Benzema to thank for his performances so far.
The Frenchman has four goals in five games including a brace to put them through in the final group stage game.
Atalanta, meanwhile, could struggle against the 13-time champions as their star man Alejandro Gomez is being rumoured to want out of the Italian side.
The round of 16 gets underway on the 16th February next year and is full of some fantastic games of European football.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE LAST-16 DRAW
Borussia Monchendgladbach vs MANCHESTER CITY
Lazio vs Bayern Munich
Atletico Madrid vs CHELSEA
RB Leipzig vs LIVERPOOL
Porto vs Juventus
Barcelona vs Paris Saint-Germain
Sevilla vs Borussia Dortmund
Atalanta vs Real Madrid
By Ali Pollock
