Knockout round draw: There will be a "death match"
At exactly 6pm on December 9 (Vietnam time), the European Football Federation (UEFA) will conduct the draw for the knockout round of the Champions League in Nyon (Switzerland). In the knockout round, Real Madrid and Barcelona are the "monsters" that any team wants to avoid.
Illustrative photo. Source: UEFA
According to UEFA rules, the group winners will meet the runners-up but on a non-equal basis. This means that teams from the same group or from the same national association will not meet in the knockout round.
This also means that Bayern Munich and Leverkusen will not have to face each other, and of course there will be no "Milan civil war" between AC Milan and Inter.
With their impressive form and unbeaten run in the group stage, Real Madrid and Barcelona are the two giants that any team would want to avoid. Of course, having to face one of these two teams means that the chances of advancing are very small or even non-existent for the clubs that only entered this round as second in the group.
The group winners are of course the favorites in theory. But surely any runners-up would want to meet APOEL of Cyprus!
On the contrary, with AC Milan in the group of second-place teams, there is a high possibility of a top match in the knockout round, such as Real Madrid - Milan or Chelsea - Milan or maybe Bayern - Milan.
So, even though Milan only entered the Champions League knockout round as the second-placed team, of course any team that is ranked "better" would not want to have to meet them.
However, if a "big battle" happens, the Champions League knockout round can also feature "top" matches such as APOEL - Basel!.
Group winners:
Bayern Munich (Germany), Inter Milan (Italy), Benfica (Portugal), Real Madrid, Barcelona (Spain), Chelsea, Arsenal (England), APOEL (Cyprus).
Second-placed teams:
Napoli, AC Milan (Italy), CSKA Moscow, Zenit St Petersburg (Russia), Basel (Switzerland), Lyon, Marseille (France), Leverkusen (Germany).
The group winners will play the second leg at home in the knockout round.
According to Vietnam+
