UEFA will celebrate this Tuesday (12:00) in Nyon the draw for the eighth of the Women's Champions League, in which rivals Barça and Atlético await. Both Spanish teams will not be able to face each other as they belong to the same Federation and they start in different pots, so their possible rivals vary.
The Barça team, which eliminated PSV (8-2) in the round of 32, is seeded and could face Fortuna, LSK Kvinner, BIIK-Kazygurt and St. Polten. In principle, all of them are affordable rivals for Lluís Cortés, who are the current leaders of Primera Iberdrola and have just won the Queen's Cup.
Meanwhile, the rojiblancas will occupy one of the two pots of the teams that are not seeded and They can face Lyon, PSG, Manchester City and Chelsea. These are four rivals with great potential, being the great 'bogeyman' to avoid Lyon, current champions.
As published hours before its celebration by UEFA, The draw will have four pots: two from seeded teams and another two from non-seeded teams. This modification has been given by the travel restrictions due to COVID-19. Thus, the balls of each drum will be removed.
One ball will be drawn from each pot and placed in a larger pot in the middle, where it will be removed. The first team drawn will play the first game at home against the second team drawn.
Groups and seeds of the Champions League round of 16 draw
Group 1:
Serial heads: Wolfsburg (GER); Barcelona (ESP); Bayern Munich (GER); Rosengård (SWE).
No. of seeds: Fortuna Hjørring (DEN); LSK Kvinner (NOR); BIIK-Kazygurt (KAZ); St. Pölten (AUT)
Group 2:
Serial heads: Lyon (FRA, holders); Paris Saint-Germain (FRA); Manchester City (ENG); Chelsea (ENG).
No. of seeds: Atlético Madrid (ESP); Brøndby (DEN); Sparta Praha (CZE); Fiorentina (ITA.
Regarding the dates, the first leg of the knockout stages of the Champions League will be played on March 3 or 4 and the return leg will be on March 10 or 11. Once the quarter-finalists are known, UEFA will hold a new draw for the quarter-finals and semi-finals on 12 March. Both qualifiers will be played on March 23/24 and March 31 / April 1, 2021 (quarterfinals) and April 24/25 and May 1/2, 2021 (semifinals). The grand finale is scheduled for May 16 at Gamla Ullevi in Gothenburg.
Curiosities of the round of 16 of the Champions
It should be remembered that Olympique de Lyon is the great rival to beat by being the current champion and by maintaining the European throne in the last five years. Last August, the French team became the first team to win seven titles and five in a row, being also the only one who has reached the eighth in the twelve seasons held in the Champions League with the current format. Of all those times she played in this round, the French were only knocked out twice.
The only other former champions competing in this round of 16 are last season's runner-up Wolfsburg. Barcelona, Fortuna Hjørring and Paris Saint-Germain are the previous finalists. For their part, Wolfsburg have won the eight knockout rounds they have played so far, with 14 wins and two draws.
It should also be mentioned that Lyon and Barcelona have won all ten rounds of the round of 16 in the last five seasons and that BIIK and Fiorentina hope to make their debut in the quarterfinals. On the other hand, St. Polten is the only team to debut in the round of 16 final and the only club left from the qualifying rounds.