Champions League last-16 draw: Arsenal to face Porto, Real Madrid drawn against RB Leipzig
In the draw for the last-16 of the Champions League, Arsenal have been pitted against Porto, while Real Madrid will face RB Leipzig. Reigning Champions League winners Manchester City, on the other hand, will play Copenhagen.
However, some big teams were missing from Monday’s draw. Manchester United finished bottom of their Champions League group, meaning they have no continental football in the second half of the season. Fellow Premier League side Newcastle United were also knocked out of Europe altogether, finishing last in their group.
This group stage will mark the last of its kind, with UEFA introducing a new format styled on the so-called ‘Swiss model’ from next season. The new format will feature one big group replacing the existing format of eight groups of four. Each team will play eight group matches, with half at home and half away. The top eight sides in the expanded 36-team league will qualify automatically for the knockout stage and those finishing in ninth to 24th will compete in a two-legged play-off to determine who reaches the last-16 of the competition.
In terms of the rules for the draw, the eight teams that won their Champions League groups were seeded in the last-16 draw, while the eight runners-up were unseeded. Each tie consists of one seeded team and one unseeded one. It was also ensured that teams from the same country and group could not be drawn against each other in the final stage.
The first and second legs of the last-16 ties will be played across two weeks each. The quarter-final and semi-final draw will take place on March 15, 2024, with the quarter-finals scheduled for April 9/10 and 16/17, 2024, and the semi-finals for April 30/May 1 and May 7/8, 2024. The final is set for June 1, 2024.
It seems that many teams will have one eye on their potential schedules for the rest of the season, ahead of June’s final at London’s Wembley Stadium. For more in-depth analysis and information, make sure to check out our accompanying articles.