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Arsenal have landed a dream Champions League draw and will not need to face a traditional heavyweight before the semi-finals, while the five other English sides all face potentially daunting ties from the last-16 onwards.
Chelsea will play Champions League holders Paris Saint-Germain while Manchester City will once again face Real Madrid and Newcastle will take on Barcelona in a glamour draw as the knockout stage bracket was revealed. Liverpool drew Galatasaray while Tottenham were paired with Atletico Madrid.
Premier League leaders Arsenal, meanwhile, now have an excellent opportunity to go on a run in this season’s competition and will play Bayer Leverkusen in the last-16 before either Sporting or Norway’s Bodo/Glimt, who will attempt to continue their fairytale run after knocking out last year’s finalists Inter.
With six English teams taking their place in the last-16 draw, there could be a record number of Premier League sides in the quarter-finals after Chelsea and Newcastle, who could have faced each other, were handed ties against PSG and Barcelona respectively.
Chelsea’s meeting with holders PSG will invoke memories of last summer’s Club World Cup final, as the Blues produced a stunning performance to defeat the newly crowded Champions League winners in New Jersey.
The winner of that tie will face either Liverpool or Galatasaray in the quarter-finals. Arne Slot’s side will return to Istanbul for the second time this season, following a 1-0 defeat early in the league phase, before hosting the Turkish side at Anfield in the second leg.
In the same half of the draw, Manchester City will play Real Madrid in a Champions League knockout tie for the fifth consecutive season. Pep Guardiola’s side have lost their previous two, but won 2-1 in the Bernabeu in December when they met in the league phase. The winners of that tie would face either Bayern Munich or Atalanta in the quarter-finals.
On the other half of the draw, Newcastle can look forward to a romantic trip to Barcelona for the first time since the 2002-03 season, having lost to the La Liga leaders on the opening night of this season’s league phase. Marcus Rashford scored twice as Barcelona won 2-1 at St James’ Park in September.
Tottenham, who are facing up to the very real threat of relegation from the Premier League, will seek salvation in the form of just a second-ever meeting with Atletico Madrid and their first since the 1963 Uefa Cup Winners’ Cup final, as Spurs became the first English side to win a European title. Should Tottenham advance, they would face either Newcastle or Barcelona.
Arsenal, who boasted the best record in the league phase to qualify as top seeds, were handed perhaps the most favourable draw of the six English sides. The Gunners would not need to face any of PSG, Real Madrid, Manchester City or Liverpool before the final they are to reach a first Champions League showpiece since 2006.
The last-16 first legs will be played across Tuesday 10 March and Wednesday 11 March, with the return legs held the following week. With the exception of Newcastle, who qualified for the last-16 via the play-offs, every other English team will be at home for the second leg.
In the Europa League, Aston Villa were drawn against Lille in the last-16 while Nottingham Forest will play Danish club Midtjylland. The two English clubs landed in the same half of the knockout draw, meaning they would face each other if they both reached the semi-final stage.
Before then, Unai Emery’s side will know they would travel to Italy to play either Roma or Bologna if they advance past Lille. Vitor Pereira’s Forest, meanwhile, would have to come through Porto or Stuttgart, who knocked out Celtic in the play-offs, if they beat Midtjylland in the last 16.
In the Conference League, Crystal Palace will welcome AEK Larnaca for the second time this season, with the Eagles hoping for a better result this time after a 1-0 home defeat to the Cypriot side in October. A reward for progress to the quarter-finals would be a meeting with either Italy’s Fiorentina or Poland’s Rakow.
Full Champions League bracket
Top half
Paris Saint-Germain / Chelsea vs Galatasaray / Liverpool
Real Madrid / Manchester City vs Atalanta / Bayern Munich
Bottom half
Newcastle / Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid / Tottenham
Bodo/Glimt / Sporting CP vs Bayer Leverkusen / Arsenal
Full Europa League bracket
Top half
Ferencvaros / Braga vs Panathinaikos / Real Betis
Genk / SC Freiburg vs Celta Vigo / Lyon
Bottom half
Stuttgart / Porto vs Nottingham Forest / FC Midtjylland
Roma / Bologna vs Lille / Aston Villa
Full Conference League bracket
Top half
Lech Poznan / Shakhtar Donestsk vs AZ Alkmaar / Sparta Praha
Crystal Palace / AEK Larnaca vs Fiorentina / Rakow Czestochowa
Bottom half
Samsunspor / Rayo Vallecano vs NK Celje / AEK Athens
Sigma Olomouc / Mainz vs Rijeka / Strasbourg