CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Champions League round-of-16 draw format: pots, rules, teams and how it works
On Monday, the 16 teams that made it through the group phase will find out the identity of their opponents in the Champions League’s opening knockout stage.
Spain will have more teams than any other country in the Champions League round-of-16 draw, which is to take place on Monday.
Follow Champions League round-of-16 draw live online: teams, pots, games, dates - latest updates.
Four LaLiga teams - Atlético Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Real Sociedad - will be in the hat at UEFA headquarters in Nyon. And having won their respective groups, they will all be seeded in the draw.
The quartet of Spanish sides will be joined in the top pot by Germany’s Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, and Premier League pair Arsenal and Manchester City.
Arsenal and holders City are England’s only representatives in the knockout stages - the first time since 2012/13 that just two Premier League teams have progressed from the Champions League group stage.
Meanwhile, Paris Saint-Germain and 2023 finalists Inter Milan are the biggest names among the eight group runners-up.
The teams in the UCL round-of-16 draw
The two pots
Group winners (seeded):
- Arsenal (ENG)
- Atlético Madrid (ESP)
- Barcelona (ESP)
- Bayern Munich (GER)
- Borussia Dortmund (GER)
- Manchester City (ENG)
- Real Madrid (ESP)
- Real Sociedad (ESP)
Group runners-up (unseeded):
- Copenhagen (DEN)
- Inter (ITA)
- Lazio (ITA)
- Napoli (ITA)
- Porto (POR)
- PSG (FRA)
- PSV Eindhoven (NED)
- RB Leipzig (GER)
How will the UCL draw work? Rules, procedure
For each round-of-16 tie, a group winner will be paired with a group runner-up, with the seeded team drawn second.
Clubs who met in the group phase cannot be pitted against each other, and this will be the final stage of the tournament at which teams from the same national association will be kept apart.
The seeded team will be at home in the second leg of each clash. At the end of the return leg, away goals won’t be used to separate sides if they’re still level: UEFA abolished the rule in all its club competitions from the start of the 2021/22 season.
See also:
When are the UCL round-of-16 ties?
The round-of-16 first legs will be played on 13, 14, 20 and 21 February 2024, with the second legs held on 5, 6, 12 and 13 March 2024.
Soon after Monday’s draw, UEFA will announce the precise schedule, which will seek to avoid teams from the same country playing on the same day. The needs of the European governing body’s broadcasting partners will also be taken into account.
UCL round-of-16 draw: key viewing info
Held at UEFA’s House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland, the draw for the 2023/24 Champions League round of 16 will take place at 6am ET/3am PT on Monday 18 December 2023.
ViX and Paramount+ have the US broadcast rights to the draw, which will also be streamed live on UEFA.com.
And don’t forget that the online streaming platform fuboTV is an option if you want to watch the event. Users who are new to the service get a free trial.
What’s more, you’ll be able to follow live-text commentary of the round-of-16 draw right here at AS USA.