Champions League draw LIVE! Arsenal and Liverpool learn last-16 opponents | OneFootball

Aston Villa, Barcelona and Real Madrid are also in the hat for the last-16 draw

The Champions League knockout stage will this morning continue to be mapped out as Arsenal, Liverpool, Aston Villa and the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona all learn their opponents for the last-16 stage. The new format of the competition means all teams already have two possible opponents, which will today get whittled down to one.

A number of big-name teams have already bit the dust, with Manchester City most notably being knocked out by Madrid, while Italian trio AC Milan, Juventus and Atalanta were all put to the sword during the play-off round. Madrid and PSG will be looking to get back on track after struggling during the League Phase before winning their play-off ties.

Teams who faced each other in the League Phase and teams from the same nation can play each other in the last-16 stage - which is a change from the original formate. Seeded teams, who finished in the top eight of the League Phase, will play the second leg of their last-16 ties at home. Those ties will take place across the first half of March.

Live updates

15 seconds ago

How it works...

Giorgio Marchetti is on stage, he’s really the only reason we’re all watching.

His job to explain how the draw works, so I should probably have a go at doing so as well.

Eight winners of the play-off ties will face the top eight teams from the league phase.

There is a pairing system in place, so each club only has two possible opponents.

For Arsenal, it’s PSV and Feyenoord. Liverpool can face PSG or Benfica. Aston Villa will take on Club Brugge or Borussia Dortmund.

5 minutes ago

Here we go!

Strap yourselves in.

The ceremony is up and running, which means it’s time for the first of at least 300 montages.

11 minutes ago

Bellingham eyes Madrid derby

Real Madrid will be drawn against either Bayer Leverkusen or Atletico Madrid, raising the possibility of a huge last-16 derby.

On that prospect, Jude Bellingham said: "You're always going to play against the best teams at this point.

“That would be something - here, away, it would be two special games.

"We'll see what happens. If we play like we did tonight [against Man City] we'll have a good chance."

Getty Images

21 minutes ago

Anthem time!

Seven seconds of the Champions League anthem - what more could you want on a Friday morning?

Adds a very dramatic feel to a video of the trophy, which whatever happens for most of the season always basically just ends up with Real Madrid.

28 minutes ago

Not long now...

About 20 minutes to go until the ceremony begins in Nyon.

And as we know, these things always run exactly to time and are nice and prompt, so I’m sure today will be no different.

38 minutes ago

Van Persie back at Arsenal?

Robin van Persie is on course for a potential reunion with Arsenal in the Champions League.

Van Persie, currently in charge of Heerenveen, is close to being appointed by Feyenoord as their new head coach.

According to reports, the deal could be done today, with van Persie expected to sign a contract through to 2027.

Brian Priske had been in charge of Feyenoord since replacing Arne Slot - who departed for Liverpool in the summer - but was dismissed on February 10, with Pascal Bosschaart stepping in as an interim replacement.

Bosschaart oversaw Feyenoord's Champions League knockout phase playoff victory against AC Milan which means they could face the Gunners in the last-16.

Should the Dutch side get Arsenal when the draw is made on Friday, van Persie will be in the dugout for both ties and that would set up two intriguing clashes, particularly at the Emirates Stadium given the former captain’s standing amongst supporters.

ANP/AFP via Getty Images

50 minutes ago

Play-off round results

PSG swept aside Brest, Real Madrid were far too good for Man City, and Bayern Munich struck deep into stoppage-time to break Celtic hearts.

Here are the full aggregate results from the play-off round:

AC Milan 1-2 Feyenoord

Atalanta 2-5 Club Brugge

Bayern Munich 3-2 Celtic

Benfica 4-3 Monaco

Borussia Dortmund 3-0 Sporting Lisbon

PSG 10-0 Brest

PSV Eindhoven 4-3 Juventus

Real Madrid 6-3 Man City

AFP via Getty Images

59 minutes ago

When will last-16 be played?

The first legs of the last-16 ties will be played on either March 4 or March 5, with the return fixtures a week later.

Arsenal are away to Manchester United in the Premier League on the weekend between those two legs, while Liverpool are at home to Southampton.

1 hour ago

Arsenal and Liverpool won't meet in final

This new format means it is guaranteed that Arsenal and Liverpool will meet before the final, should they progress into the latter stages of the competition.

As they did not finish in the same ‘seeding pair’ in the League Phase - so, either first and second, or third and fourth etc - then a quarter-final or semi-final clash is inevitable.

1 hour ago

Simulated draw

We simulated the last-16 draw to map out the rest of the tournament, and it saw all three Premier League sides 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.