All roads led to Nyon, Switzerland, on Monday for the knockout draw of Europe’s elite club competitions. Sixteen teams from six different countries took part in the Champions League draw which produced a couple of blockbuster matches.
Just as earlier predicted by Bayern Munich, the German champions were handed their wish after being paired with Arsenal. Leicester City and Manchester City the other two English sides still in the competition will face Sevilla and Monaco respectively. While European giants, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus got fairly easy draws.
With the journey to Cardiff becoming more serious, we highlight five things we observed from the Champions League last 16 draws.
1 End of the road for Arsenal?
Arsenal’s reward for finishing top of their group was a dreadful pairing with Bayern. This is one club many Arsenal fans wouldn’t have wished to play considering they’ve been eliminated twice in the last four years by the Bavarians. In fact, the Gunners have only beaten the Germans three times in 10 previous meetings.
2 Manchester City’s shaky defence against Europe’s best attack
Pep Guardiola’s lacklustre defence will be tested once again but this time by Europe’s best attacking side, Monaco. Leonardo Jardim’s side have taken Ligue 1 by storm scoring 53 goals in 17 games with revived striker Radamel Falcao notching 10 of them. Man City, who have only kept a clean sheet in their last 11 games across all competitions, will draw some motivation from the fact that they’ve never lost to any French side.
3 Real Madrid lucky again
With all due respect to Napoli, Real Madrid is almost certain to make their seventh straight quarter-final. The reigning champions who shockingly finished second behind Borussia Dortmund will count themselves lucky to have avoided the big guns. Zinedine Zidane’s side have gone 35 games unbeaten which are their best run ever in all competitions and it’s very unlikely the Italians can stop them.
4 Fairytale run on the cards for Leicester City
Leicester City could just be heading for another fairytale run this season after being paired with Sevilla in the Champions League. The Premier League champions haven’t been particularly impressive in their title defence but did enough to earn a place in the last 16. Should Claudio Ranieri’s lads put in such impressive display as they did against Man City at the weekend, they will definitely be guaranteed a place in the quarter-finals.
5 The wait continues for PSG
After back-to-back Europa League successes with Sevilla, Unai Emery was appointed to help Paris Saint-Germain end their European nightmare. PSG have dominated France winning four successive Ligue 1 trophies aside nine other domestic titles in four years. However, they’ve been unable to replicate that feat in Europe. With a last 16 tie against Barcelona looming, it’s very likely that Les Parisiens will have to wait a little longer before winning their maiden Champions League.
