Now the Champions League starts.
There’s not much better that the European Championship knockout stage and, on February 13-14 and February 20-21, the second round begins and what a draw we have to look forward to.
With Bayern, Juve and Real Madrid all finishing in second place, the round of 16 was always headed for some clinker ties.
Mauricio Pochettino’s reward for topping a group that consisted of champions Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund is to face the finalists in the second round, Juventus. They top that group and they have to play the Italian giants whilst Liverpool, United and City are more or less guaranteed byes to the quarter-finals.
Pep Guardiola won’t lose much sleep over being draw away to Basel in the first leg.
United avoided a potential clash with Bayern, Juve or Real and, instead, head for Spain to take on Sevilla but the tie of the round is no doubt PSG v Real Madrid.
Juventus v Tottenham Hotspur
FC Basel v Manchester City
Sevilla v Manchester United
FC Porto v Liverpool
PSG v Real Madrid
Shakhtar Donetsk v Roma
Chelsea v Barcelona
Bayern Munich v Besiktas
Path to the final
13/14 and 20/21 February: Round of 16, first leg
6/7 and 13/14 March: Round of 16, second leg
16 March: Quarter-final draw
3/4 April: Quarter-finals, first leg
10/11 April: Quarter-finals, second leg
13 April: Semi-final and final draw
24/25 April: Semi-finals, first leg
1/2 May: Semi-finals, second leg
26 May: Final (NSK Olimpiyski, Kyiv)
Over in the Europa League, Celtic were drawn against Zenit in the round of 32.
The official result of the Round of 32 #UELdraw!
Most exciting tie? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/166NCzW7wq
— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) December 11, 2017
