The draw for the Champions League round of 16 will take place at UEFA headquarters in Nyon on 7 November. Dortmund and Frankfurt should be prepared for a big caliber, FC Bayern could meet Liverpool despite winning the group.
What’s next in the Champions League?
Because of the Qatar World Cup, after an extended hibernation, the first round of 16 games will start on February 14th. UEFA has retained the “salami mode” from previous years.
The round of 16 matches will be spread over a full month, with four dates of two games each on Tuesday and Wednesday. The first leg of the round of 16 increases on 14./15. as well as on 21./22. February, the second leg on 7./8. as well as on 14./15. March 2023.
Which teams are qualified for the round of 16?
as group winner are already qualified: FC Bayern Munich, FC Chelsea, Manchester City, SSC Napoli, FC Porto and Tottenham Hotspur.
The following teams are also at least as runners-up qualified for the round of 16: Benfica Lisbon, FC Brugge, Borussia Dortmund, Eintracht Frankfurt, Inter Milan, FC Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid.
Pots, seeding lists, exclusion criteria – how does the draw work?
As usual, UEFA split the 16 round of 16 teams into two seed pots – one for the eight group winners and one for the eight runners-up. The eight group winners are seeded and will initially meet one of the eight runners-up in the round of sixteen away from home.
According to UEFA regulations, for the round of 16 no team is allowed to play against a club from its preliminary round group or against a team from its own association. Further restrictions will be announced before the draw, but are not to be expected.
Which opponents are possible for the German teams?
FC Bayern is the group winner, BVB and Frankfurt go into the round of 16 as runners-up. Leipzig can even win the group, but also in Europe league be transferred. Of the five German starters in the Champions League only Bayer Leverkusen is definitely not in the round of 16.
“We’ll see what winning the group means at the end of the drawBayern coach Julian Nagelsmann said coolly as usual. After all, Bayern avoid top favorites Manchester City or Chelsea as group winners.
That would be a round of 16 against FC Liverpool possible. Or one against Paris Saint Germain and Real Madrid should both finish only as group runners-up. Defending champions Real would have to against at home Celtic slip up and screw up the group win.
As runners-up in the group, Frankfurt and Dortmund should be prepared for a big calibre: Only FC Bayern and the respective group winners from the preliminary round group (City at BVB, Tottenham at Eintracht) are excluded. The same applies to Leipzig if the cup winners qualify as runners-up for the round of 16.
What’s next after the round of 16?
The quarterfinals are scheduled for November 11th and 12th. April (first leg) and for the 18./19. April (second legs) scheduled. The dates for the semi-finals are May 9th and 10th (first legs) and May 16th and 17th (second legs). The final will take place on June 10 in Istanbul’s Atatürk Stadium – a legendary final took place there in 2005 Liverpool’s comeback against AC Milan.