England set a record by sending five different teams through to the UEFA Champions League knockout round. Four of the five went in as group winners, with Chelsea the only side finishing second, and that was by a single point on tie-breakers. Chances for the British clubs to advance even further in Europe are quite high, as a few of them drew some favorable match-ups on Monday.
The Guardian did a power rankings for the knockout round clubs, and England’s representation came in very favorable on their list.
That’s reflected by the result today as Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool all have to be very content with the knockout round opponents they drew. Manchester City, considered by many the favorite to win the tournament this season, drew Swiss side FC Basel while Manchester United are paired with La Liga side Sevilla.
Liverpool were matched with Porto FC, and that’s also a very favorable outcome. United, City, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur are all playing their second legs at home. There are two massive headliner draws here- Chelsea vs Barcelona and Real Madrid taking on Paris Saint-Germain.
Here is the full draw listed out:
The round of 16 #UCLdraw has been made 😍
Backing your team to progress? pic.twitter.com/v7I6dSq7Tc
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) December 11, 2017
Here is the full schedule of ties, with both legs.
🗓️All the dates for your #UCL diary! 👍#UCLdraw pic.twitter.com/8MneftfSBw
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) December 11, 2017
It’s safe to say that UEFA really got it right here with the knockout round pairings.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes regularly to WGN CLTV and the Tribune company’s blogging community Chicago Now.
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