Winners and losers after UEFA Champions League draw
UEFA Champions League: Winners & Losers after Round of 16 draw
The final pathway to Munich 2025 has been revealed on Friday with 16 teams knowing their fate in the UEFA Champions League knockout phase.
Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Club Brugge, PSV, Paris Saint-Germain, Borussia Dortmund and Benfica qualified for the round of 16 in midweek after securing crucial results in the playoff round.
Meanwhile, the top 8 teams in the league phase, Liverpool, Barcelona, Arsenal, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, Lille, Aston Villa and Bayer Leverkusen automatically secured their spots in the draw.
Following the pairing of the 16 remaining teams in the elite European competition, Rant Sports has ranked the winners and losers of the eight fixtures.
Winners: Benfica vs Barcelona
A replay of the league game between Benfica and Barcelona that took place on January 21 has been set up.
Barcelona ran out 5-4 winners with three late goals in the final 12 minutes.
Benfica pipped Monaco 4-3 in the knockout phase while Hansi Flick’s men secured an automatic qualification to the last-16 after finishing second in the league phase.
Losers: PSG vs Liverpool
One of the two high-flying teams must leave the competition by March 11.
PSG emerged as the biggest winners in the UCL knockout playoff this week with the 7-0 drubbing of Brest which culminated to an aggregate score of 10-0.
Liverpool, however, finished at the top of the league phase table with 21 points from eight games and a two-point lead above second-placed Barcelona.
Interestingly, PSG and Liverpool sit comfortably at the top of their leagues in France and England, respectively.
Winners: Club Brugge vs Aston Villa
Another replay fixture after Club Brugge defeated Aston Villa 1-0 in the matchday 4 of the UCL league phase in November.
The last game between both teams in Brugge was keenly contested and they were separated by Hans Vanaken’s effort from the penalty spot.
Club Brugge earned their spot in the round of 16 after stunning reigning Europa League winners, Atalanta 5-2 on aggregate in the playoff while Aston Villa advanced automatically after finishing eighth in the table.
Losers: Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid
A Madrid derby at this crucial stage of the UCL means a high intensity and exciting fixture in the Spanish capital.
The last time the two Madrid clubs faced each other in the UCL was in the semi-final of the 2016-17 season and the Blancos won the two-legged game.
It won’t be an easy encounter for both teams after Real Madrid proved their UCL title credentials by upstaging Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in the playoff while Atletico Madrid finished fifth in the league table.
Winners: Dortmund vs Lille
The last time Borussia Dortmund and Lille played each other on the European stage was over two decades ago.
The last two games between the two teams ended in draws in the UEFA Europa League back in 2002.
Lille cleverly took care of business in the league phase and finished seventh as the best French team while resurgent Dortmund are getting their season right back on track under newly-appointed Niko Kovac.
Losers: Bayern Munich vs Bayer Leverkusen
Just a week after Bayern Munich failed to impress in the top-of-the-table Bundesliga clash with Bayer Leverkusen, they have a chance to atone for their errors.
Vincent Kompany’s are yet to register a win in their last three outings against Leverkusen this season, including back-to-back goalless draws in the Bundesliga.
Bayern narrowly edged Celtic in the playoff round while Leverkusen were among the eight teams to advance into the round of 16 automatically.
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