Champions League round of 16 draw simulated: Arsenal and Liverpool get favourable ties as Barcelona face PSG

Evening Standard

·20 February 2025

Champions League round of 16 draw simulated: Arsenal and Liverpool get favourable ties as Barcelona face PSG

The draw takes place at the House of European Football on Friday

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The draw for the Champions League round of 16 is now just hours away and the quarter-final and semi-final path will become clearer.

Following the conclusion of the knockout phase playoffs, the stage is set as 15 teams aim to dethrone Real Madrid come Saturday, 31 May, 2025 at the Allianz Arena in Munich.

The holders are safely through to the round of 16 but they required a playoff to convincingly overcome Manchester City, 6-3 on aggregate, due to finishing 11th in the new league phase format.

Feyenoord, PSV Eindhoven and Club Brugge have also progressed after knocking out AC Milan, Juventus and Atalanta respectively in a nightmare week for the Italian sides.

Meanwhile, it has been a period of rest from European competition for the teams that finished in the top eight as the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Aston Villa did not have to navigate a two-legged tie having qualified straight through to the last 16.

So ahead of Friday's draw, who will be paired with who? Well, the eight seeded sides each have two possibilities based on the final rankings from the league phase and a Champions League knockout stage simulator has determined their potential opponents in the round of 16 and it's safe to say the results are quite fascinating.

In this simulation, Premier League leaders Liverpool have avoided a tie with Paris Saint-Germain - who put 10 past Brest over two legs - to face Darwin Nunez's former club Benfica.

Furthermore, Arsenal have been paired with Feyenoord which would mean a reunion with former captain Robin van Persie who is expected to take charge of the Dutch side before the last-16 clashes take place.

The simulator hasn't been as kind to Aston Villa as they've been paired with last season's finalists Borussia Dortmund.

Though the simulator has thrown up some mouth-watering fixtures such as Bayern Munich vs Atletico Madrid as well as PSG vs Barcelona, whilst Xabi Alonso would provide the narrative in a Real Madrid vs Bayer Leverkusen showdown.

A simulator has been used to determine a potential Champions League round of 16 draw

drawsimulator.com

Simulated Champions League round of 16 draw in full:

Club Brugge vs Lille

Benfica vs Liverpool

Feyenoord vs Arsenal

Bayern Munich vs Atletico Madrid

Borussia Dortmund vs Aston Villa

PSG vs Barcelona

PSV vs Inter

Real Madrid vs Bayer Leverkusen

This particular scenario also means that the three Premier League representatives are on the same side of the draw. Therefore, Liverpool could meet Aston Villa in the quarter-final before facing Arsenal in the semi-final if both clubs get that far.

On the other side, an El Clasico semi-final between Barcelona and Real Madrid is a possibility if this simulation becomes a reality.