The Champions that distributes so many joys and sorrows, the tournament that all the great clubs of Europe yearn for without exception, travels new horizons with the draw for the round of 16 that is being held online today from Nyon (12:00, Movistar Champions League, TV3 and Eurosport). A more or less friendly crossing marks the course in the maximum continental competition. The Spanish teams know this, which, despite qualifying as a block for this round, will experience the draw in a much less advantageous situation than in other years.
Only Madrid was the group leader, while Barcelona, Atlético and Sevilla will wait from pot 2 for one of the powerful rivals of 1. Thus, Madrid will pass this procedure with apparently more tranquility than the rest of the teams of The league. The whites will play the second leg at home and will have a more placid opponent a priori that will come from between Porto, Lazio, Atalanta and Leipzig. By not being able to measure himself with teams of the same nationality or the one with which he already crossed in the group (Gladbach), the options are greatly reduced. Perhaps the Leipzig who brilliantly runs Nagelsmann be the most complicated of the four.
Coconuts. But where the curiosity of the draw will really be is in the duels of the rest of the Spanish teams. The only good news for Barça, Atleti and Sevilla is that they avoid the rivals they already had in their group (Juventus for Barça, Bayern for Atleti and Chelsea for Sevilla). The rest is a bomb in almost any of the cases, since the group of seeds is of a very high level with Bayern, City, Liverpool, Juventus, Chelsea, PSG and Dortmund. Perhaps this last option, that of the Borusser team, is the most feasible, although already with Haaland and with a new coach it will be a different set.
Among the possible coconuts for Barça, Atlético and Sevilla there are several that would turn the Champions upside down. A Barça-Bayern cross, for example, after last season's 2-8. Or a Barça-Liverpool after what happened two seasons ago in that 4-0 in Anfield. Of course an Atlético-Juventus with Christian like his black beast. Even a Sevilla-Bayern would have its grace after the last Super Cup between them.
Many nuances despite the fact that there will be two months before the matches are played. The first leg of these eighths will be on February 16, 17, 23 and 24, while the return is scheduled for March 9, 10, 16 and 17. The 19th will be the draw for the quarters among the eight classified. All with the goal of reaching the grand finale, scheduled for May 29 in Istanbul.