Five things to look out for following the UCL Round of 16 Draw

By on December 15, 2014

Today, the Uefa Champions League Round of 16 draw was revealed. Here is our analysis of the surprises, and what you should look out for following the draw in the first round of the knockout stages.

Is anybody getting Deja Vu?
Don’t be surprised, Uefa’s sorting system screws the draw’s odds. Three of this years draws we also saw in the knockout stages last year – Paris Saint-Germain V Chelsea was a Quarterfinal tie, while Barcelona V Manchester City and Real Madrid V Schalke 04 were both Round of 16 draws the last time around as well. What this gives us, aside from a more heated rivalry, will be an extra point of analysis and comparison, which in turn lends the matches their extra ferocity, with the losing club wanting more than ever to trump their opponents Chelsea. And in the case Barca and City, what could be landmark match to see if City are finally improving in Europe (last time around they lost the tie), while PSG and Chelsea, two of the biggest spenders in the world, will once again be up to see who’s goal of winning the Champions League with their wallets is closest to completion, only this time better regarding the fact that David Luiz went from Chelsea to PSG over the summer.

What has money bought for PSG and Chelsea?
PSG and Chelsea both have clear penultimate goals – using whatever means, and mainly their wallets, win the Champions League. This season, both are already clear favorites to win their respective leagues, the first step to world domination, but don’t exactly replicate world beaters, yet, that is. In some ways, the fact that a side which routinely feature John Obi Mikel and 36-year-old Didier Drogaba as substitutes should be able to win the league represents England’s decline on the European stage.

The same problem exists at PSG, obviously big fish in a small pond in the French Ligue 1. Just the past weekend they faced EA Guingamp in the league, a side which just a couple years back were playing in France’s third tier – and lost. Playing one day against those kinds of sides and the next preparing for Europe’s best cannot be good preparation. Furthermore, the proof is in the pudding as though they narrowly beat Barca in their first meeting in the groups stages more recently were trumped 3-1 by a Catalan side hardly in their prime either. None of this, of course, means neither side shouldn’t be in the Quarterfinals or even make a run to the Semifinals, not with the likes of Eden Hazard, Diego Costa, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edison Cavani that will grace the pitch when the two clubs meet, however, when compared to the very best at the moment, Real Madrid, the reigning champions, and Bayern Munich, PSG and Chelsea seem just a class below.

Arsenal’s chance to regain some credibility.
For all their recent league troubles, Arsenal seem to have a good deal with their draw. Of all the teams they could’ve faced – Real Madrid, Bayern, Barca – they probably got off lucky with a AS Monaco side just a shadow of what they were last season, when they qualified for the Champions League, having lost both James Rodriguez and Radamel Falcao over the summer. And for all the grief The Gunners are receiving for their recent league form, a run to the Champions League final eight is exactly the break they need. Moreover, Arsene Wenger will have a chance to make nice of his first return to the club which he used to manage all those years back before he joined Arsenal, although he has a worrying habit of ruining these occasions (recently, he lost 6-1 to Chelsea in his landmark 1000th match in charge of Arsenal)…

Atletico’s time to prove last year wasn’t all a fluke.
Last season, Atletico Madrid held a 1-0 lead over their arch-rivals Real Madrid in none other than the Champions League final with ninety-three minutes on the clock. Although Madrid equalized and stole the Champions League trophy in extra-time, that only takes the glory, not the achievement of their incredible run out of Atletico’s hands. In a season when they also won the Spanish La Liga, there was hardly any doubt about it – they would be poached by the big-money clubs, and not be the same team this season. However, despite losing Diego Costa, Philipe Luis, and Thibaut Courtois in one summer, they are currently trailing only a few points behind Barca and Real Madrid in the league. Now though, facing a beatable side in Bayer Leverkusen in the Round of 16, is the perfect time for Diego Simeone’s side to prove their run to the final last season all wasn’t a fluke, a trick of the mist. A Quarterfinal appearance this season would surely prove that.

Will Dortmund’s league form affect European form?
Despite Borussia Dortmund sitting in the relegation zone in the German Bundesliga at the time of writing (which is nearing the halfway point of the season), and just a few weeks back finding themselves dead bottom of the table, Dortmund got out of their group in first place ahead of Arsenal. However, after a disappointing finish the the group with a loss to Arsenal and draw with Anderlecht, has their league form finally been starting to catch up with their form in the Champions League? Juventus should be a tough enough test to tell us so.

The draw in full:
Paris Saint-Germain v Chelsea
Manchester City v Barcelona
Bayer Leverkusen v Atlético Madrid
Juventus v Borussia Dortmund
Schalke v Real Madrid
Shakhtar Donetsk v Bayern Munich
Arsenal v Monaco
Basel v Porto

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.