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December 5, 2017


Who Could PL Teams Draw?  (Sky Sports)

Antonio ConteFind out why Chelsea supporters could be worried ahead of Monday’s Champions League round of 16 draw…

While Manchester United's 2-1 win over CSKA Moscow in Group A confirmed top spot for Jose Mourinho's men, Chelsea's 1-1 draw at home to Atletico Madrid on Tuesday proved costly.

The result means that Antonio Conte's team surrendered top spot in Group C to Roma and could now face a daunting prospect in the knockout stages.

Here, we take a look at their potential opponents, those of fellow Premier League sides Manchester City, Tottenham (who are both confirmed as group winners), and Liverpool…

Group winners will face runners-up

One of the advantages of winning your Champions League group is that this guarantees that a team will not have to play one of the other seven sides who topped their group too. So United, City and Spurs know they will be up against teams who finished second.

The four teams to have secured second spot on Tuesday were Basel, Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Juventus. Real Madrid are also confirmed to finish second and will be joined by three more sides - currently scheduled to be Sevilla, Shakhtar Donetsk and Porto.

Are there any other restrictions?

In the round of 16, teams cannot be drawn against sides who they faced in the group stages. That means Chelsea cannot draw Roma, Manchester United cannot be drawn to play against Basel and Tottenham will not be up against their Group H opponents Real Madrid.

It is also not possible for teams from the same country to be drawn against each other in this round. That means that even if Liverpool finish second in their group on Wednesday, they will still not play against one of the four Premier League group winners in the last 16.

If Liverpool do secure top spot that makes things even trickier for Chelsea. As a result of these restrictions, the Blues would only be able to draw three teams in the round of 16 - Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain or Besiktas.

The possibilities

Chelsea: Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Besiktas, Spartak Moscow or Sevilla.

Manchester United: Bayern Munich, Juventus, Real Madrid, Spartak Moscow, Sevilla, Shakhtar Donetsk, Napoli, Porto or RB Leipzig.

Manchester City: Bayern Munich, Juventus, Basel, Real Madrid, Spartak Moscow, Sevilla, Porto or RB Leipzig.

Tottenham: Bayern Munich, Juventus, Basel, Spartak Moscow, Sevilla, Shakhtar Donetsk, Napoli, Porto or RB Leipzig.

Liverpool (if top): Bayern Munich, Juventus, Basel, Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk, Napoli, Porto or RB Leipzig.

Liverpool (if second): Roma, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain, Besiktas.

Anything else you need to know?

These restrictions are removed ahead of the quarter-finals. From that point onwards it is a free draw so group-stage rematches and any all-Premier League clashes could be back on the agenda from that point onwards.

When is the draw and when are the games?

The draw for the round of 16 takes place at UEFA's headquarters in Nyom in Switzerland on Monday. The first legs will be played on 13, 14, 20 and 21 February, and the second legs will be played on 6, 7, 13 and 14 March 2018.



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