The UEFA Champions League Round of 16 draw ceremony will take place at 1 PM today, Monday, Cairo time, at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland. According to the tournament regulations, teams from the same country cannot face each other, and there will be no matchups between teams that previously met in the group stage.
The Round of 16 matches will occur on February 15, 16, 22, and 23 (first leg) and March 8, 9, 15, and 16 (second leg), all at 10 PM Cairo time. UEFA has decided to abolish the away goals rule; thus, if the matches are tied after 180 minutes, the teams will move to extra time, and if still tied, there will be penalty shootouts to determine the qualifier.
Sixteen teams have qualified for the Round of 16, categorized into two pots: the first pot includes group winners, while the second includes runners-up. The teams in the first pot are as follows: Manchester City, Liverpool, Ajax, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Lille, and Juventus. The second pot teams include: Villarreal, Atlético Madrid, Inter Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, Sporting Lisbon, Chelsea, Benfica, and Salzburg.
The draw is expected to result in fiery matchups, particularly involving Paris Saint-Germain, which is in the second pot and will only avoid its compatriot Lille and Manchester City, with whom they were in the same group. The same applies to Chelsea, which will steer clear of Juventus, Manchester United, City, and Liverpool, and could possibly face Real Madrid or Bayern Munich.
