Champions League Draw: Who Could Liverpool, Arsenal And Aston Villa Face In The Last-16?

The draw for the last-16 stage of the Champions League is looming, with more teams sealing their place via the play-offs.

Aston Villa sealed their place to the last-16 by finishing in the top-eight of the league phase. They were ed by Barcelona, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen and Lille who all avoided the rigmarole of a two-legged play-off.

Bayern Munich, Benfica, Club Brugge and Feyenoord all sealed their place in the last-16 by winning their respective play-off ties on Tuesday.

Four more last-16 teams were confirmed on Wednesday, with Manchester City being eliminated by Real Madrid with a 6-3 defeat on aggregate.

Here, we take a look at who the English teams could draw in the Champions League last-16.

Champions League Draw: Who Could English Sides Play In Last-16

Liverpool

Arne Slot’s side will face one of three sides in the Champions League last-16 – though it is likely to be one of two.

Benfica are one potential opponent after their 4-3 aggregate victory against Monaco.

Paris Saint-Germain face French rivals Brest in the second-leg of their last-16 clash on Wednesday night. It would take a near miracle for Brest to make the last-16, with PSG holding a 3-0 advantage going into the clash at the Parc des Princes.

Liverpool last met Benfica in the quarter-final stage of the 2021-22 Champions League campaign – winning 6-4 on aggregate.

The Reds played PSG in the group stage of the 2018-19 season where they lifted the Champions League.

Potential Opponents: Benfica or PSG

Arsenal

Arsenal can be drawn against one of Feyenoord, Juventus or PSV Eindhoven in the last-16 of the Champions League.

Feyenoord reached the last-16 with a 2-1 aggregate win over AC Milan. Theo Hernandez’s red card hurt the Italian side after he got a second yellow for simulation.

Juventus took a 2-1 aggregate victory over PSV Eindhoven in their first-leg. However, the Dutch side hold the home advantage in Wednesday’s second-leg.

Arsenal and Feyenoord have surprisingly never faced off in any competition. The Gunners last met PSV Eindhoven in the group stage of the 2023-24 Champions League where they won 4-0 at home and drew 1-1 away.

The Gunners last met Juventus in the Champions League in 2006 where they won 2-0 on aggregate. This was the season they last reached the Champions League final, narrowly losing 2-1 to Barcelona in the final.

Potential Opponents: Feyenoord or PSV Eindhoven

Aston Villa

Aston Villa will fancy their chances against Borussia Dortmund, Sporting Lisbon or Club Brugge – the three sides they could play in the Champions League last-16.

Atalanta looked like a potentially difficult last-16 tie before the Italians were stunned with a 5-2 aggregate loss to Brugge.

Villa would have to be wary of Brugge given the Belgian side beat them 1-0 in the league phase.

Borussia Dortmund are all but through into the last-16. The German side will defend a 3-0 aggregate lead going into the second-leg of the play-off on Wednesday night at Signal Iduna Park.

The two sides met in a friendly last August but have never faced each other in a competitive game.

Potential Opponents: Club Brugge or Borussia Dortmund

When Is The Champions League Last-16 Draw?

The draw for the Champions League-last 16 will take place on Friday, February 21, at 11am UK time which will be shown on TNT Sports.

This will see the top-eight from the league phase go against the eight winners of the play-off round.

Not only will teams find out their last-16 opponents but they will discover who they could play in each round up until the final.

The Champions League final is set to take place on May 31 at Bayern Munich’s Allianz Arena.