Following the announcement of the final 16 on Wednesday night, the path that Arsenal, Liverpool, and Aston Villa will take to reach the final of the Champions League has become substantially more transparent.
As a result of Feyenoord, Bayern Munich, Club Brugge, and Benfica all advancing on aggregate on Tuesday night, the very first set of Champions League knockout phase play-offs came to a conclusion with Borussia Dortmund taking on Sporting CP, Paris Saint-Germain taking on Brest, Real Madrid taking on Manchester City, and PSV Eindhoven taking on Juventus.
As a result of finishing in the top eight, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Bayer Leverkusen, Inter Milan, Lille, and Liverpool all received automatic qualification for the round of sixteen.
Since the final matchday, the three English teams mentioned above have been able to take it easy and relax. They will be keeping a close eye on the draw that will take place on Friday at eleven in the morning in Nyon, Switzerland.
However, the draw is not a random one because the final league standings have developed a new “seeding” system and have essentially mapped out each team’s possible route to the final. Additionally, there is a possibility that the quarter-final and semi-final draws will also take place.
Due to the fact that teams that qualified have been placed in four seeded pairs, Liverpool and Barcelona will not be able to face each other until the final match in Munich, even though they both finished in the top two.
Arsenal and Inter Milan are in third and fourth place, respectively, while Atletico and Bayer Leverkusen are in fifth and sixth place, and Lille and Aston Villa are in seventh and eighth place, respectively.
A possible path for Liverpool: In the round of 16, the team that currently holds the top spot in the Champions League table will be drawn against either Paris Saint-Germain or Benfica.
In the quarterfinals, the Reds could face Borussia Dortmund, Lille, or Aston Villa, depending on which side of the bracket they end up on. Additionally, they could face Club Brugge, Lille, or Manchester United.
Real Madrid, PSV, Inter Milan, Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, Atletico Madrid, and Feyenoord are some of the teams that could serve as potential opponents in the semi-finals. However, this is contingent upon the bracket.
Arsenal’s potential path: In the round of 16, Arsenal will face either PSV or Feyenoord according to the current standings. Arsenal could face Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, Atletico Madrid, or Real Madrid in the quarterfinals, depending on the bracket they end up in. It is also possible that they could face Real Madrid.
PSG, Liverpool, Barcelona, Club Brugge, Lille, Aston Villa, Benfica, and Borussia Dortmund are some of the teams that could face off against Borussia Dortmund in the semifinals.
The possible path that Aston Villa could take is as follows: in the round of 16, Aston Villa will face either Borussia Dortmund or Club Brugge. It is possible that they will face Paris Saint-Germain, Benfica, Liverpool, or Barcelona in the quarterfinals, depending on the bracket.
Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, Atletico Madrid, Feyenoord, Inter Milan, Arsenal, Real Madrid, and PSV are some of the teams that could serve as potential opponents in the semi-finals.
The full list of the final 16: Liverpool
In Barcelona
Armoury (ar
The Inter Milanese
It’s Atletico Madrid.
It is Bayer Leverkusen.
A Lille
Aston Villa Football Club
It is Borussia Dortmund.
The Real Madrid club
Munich’s Bayern FC
The PSV
The PSG
A. Benfica
A. Feyenoord
The Club Brugge
