Champions League round of 16 draw: Man City get dream tie, Arsenal favourites to reach quarter-final
The coveted Champions League trophy
Manchester City and Arsenal have both discovered who they will face in the Champions League round of 16, and both clubs will be delighted with how the draw turned out.
Arsenal and Manchester City are the two English sides left in the competition after Manchester United finished bottom of Group A with just four points, as Bayern Munich and surprise team Copenhagen went through at their expense. Newcastle United were also knocked out, finishing last in Group F despite putting on a good account of themselves. Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain advanced instead of the Magpies.
Arsenal won four out of their six Group B matches, putting them through in first place on 13 points. They will be joined by PSV in the next round, who finished one point ahead of third-placed Lens.
The Gunners will be favourites to reach the quarter-finals, as they have been drawn against Porto. Although, Porto will certainly not be easy opponents, as they picked up 12 points in Group H and finished behind group winners Barcelona only due to their head-to-head record.
City, meanwhile, were joined by only Real Madrid in winning all of their group-stage outings. Pep Guardiola’s side easily advanced to the last 16 by ending up on a perfect 18 points, with German outfit RB Leipzig following them through in second place.
City have been given arguably the best-possible draw, as they will come up against Copenhagen in the last 16. As mentioned previously, Copenhagen were Group A’s surprise package, picking up wins against Man Utd and Galatasaray on their route to the next round. But City will certainly be confident about dumping the Danish club out of the competition.
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City have this season’s joint-top scorer in the competition, with Erling Haaland joined by Atletico Madrid pair Alvaro Morata and Antoine Griezmann, plus Man Utd’s Rasmus Hojlund, on five goals.
Barcelona get mouth-watering Italian clash
Here is the rest of the UCL round of 16 draw:
Napoli vs Barcelona
PSG vs Real Sociedad
Inter Milan vs Atletico Madrid
PSV vs Dortmund
Lazio vs Bayern Munich
RB Leipzig vs Real Madrid
The first legs of the last 16 will be placed across two weeks, February 13-14 and 20-21, 2024, with the second legs due to take place March 5-6 and 12-13.
The quarter-final and semi-final draws will be done together on Friday March 15.