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The pretend questions are still not pouring in. Marilyn from Keswick: “How does the round of 16 draw work?”
I’ve absolutely no idea, Marilyn. It’s just waffle. So I’ll paste the official blurb from UEFA. Shrug emoji.
The clubs are paired based on their positions at the end of the league phase to form four seeded pairs (clubs in positions 1 and 2, 3 and 4, 5 and 6, 7 and 8).
The clubs in each seeded pair are drawn into one of two positions in the round of 16 against the relevant winner of the knockout phase play-offs, whose position was determined by the knockout phase play-off draw.
Four bowls are prepared for the draw, with the balls containing the names of each pair of seeded teams placed in the corresponding marked bowls according to the league rankings.
The draw allocates the side of the bracket for all the seeded teams, starting with the teams ranked 7/8 and finishing with the teams 1/2.
One ball is taken from the bowl containing the two relevant ranked teams (i.e. the teams ranked 7 and 8) and is opened to display the team. The first team drawn from this bowl is placed in their reserved spot on the silver side of the bracket (see bracket graphic below). The other seeded team of the pairing is then drawn and displayed, and allocated in the corresponding reserved spot on the blue side of the bracket (see below).
The same procedure is carried out with the remaining seeded teams.
In principle, the seeded clubs play the return leg at home.
Ron from Carlisle hasn’t been in touch: “Can teams from the same country face each other in the Champions League round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals?”
Yes Ron. And, get this, teams can even play against other teams they came up against in the league phase.
Bob from Plymouth now: “Hi Dave, when do the Champions League round of 16, quarter-finals and semi-finals take place?”
Here are the dates, B-dog.
Round of 16: 4/5 & 11/12 March
Quarter-finals: 8/9 & 15/16 April
Semi-finals: 29/30 April & 6/7 May
Final: 31 May (Munich)
Have a question about the Champions League draw? Using a series of fictional people who haven’t written in, I’ll answer your imagined queries.
Terry from Bridgend writes: “Hi Dave, you’re looking well. Tell us the top eight from the league please in alphabetical order please. And follow that with the unseeded play-off winners, again alphabetically please.”
No probs Tezzer.
League phase top eight
Arsenal (England)
Aston Villa (England)
Atletico Madrid (Spain)
Barcelona (Spain)
Inter (Italy)
Leverkusen (Germany)
Lille (France)
Liverpool (England)
Play-off winners
Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
Bayern München (Germany)
Benfica (Portugal)
Club Brugge (Belgium)
Feyenoord (Netherlands)
Paris (France)
PSV (Netherlands)
Real Madrid (Spain)
Let’s start by setting the scene for the weekend Premier League action. It starts tonight with Brentford travelling to Leicester so don’t forget to transfer Bryan Mbeumo back into your fantasy team.
Friday
8pm Leicester v Brentford
Saturday
12.30pm Everton v Man Utd
3pm Arsenal v West Ham
3pm Bournemouth v Wolves
3pm Fulham v Crystal Palace
3pm Ipswich v Spurs
3pm Southampton v Brighton
5.30pm Aston Villa v Chelsea
Sunday
2pm Newcastle v Nottingham Forest
4.30pm Man City v Liverpool
Preamble
It’s a double dose of fun this (looks out of window) grey Friday morning. Yes, we’ve got the usual build-up to the weekend Premier League action but also the draw for the knockout phase of the Champions League, a spectacle that won’t feature Manchester City after Pep Guardiola’s men were swept aside by Real Madrid.
For the Premier League, the respective managers of Brighton, Newcastle and Chelsea are first in the hotseat as they regale us with tales of team news, current form and opposition strengths. Then after lunch Pep, Mikel, Ruben and Ange are put under the spotlight.
That Champions League draw in Nyon takes place at 11am UK time. I’ve just read the ‘procedure’ on the UEFA website and it’s all a bit Partridge 1994 World Cup. It takes in the last 16, quarters and semis and apparently by the end of it we’ll even know the designated home team in the final. “Gooooaallll”.
