Champions League Last 16 Draw Permutations

With the group stages of the 2016/17 Champions League now behind us, attention is already turning to Monday’s round of 16 draw. As some of the continents big-hitters came second in their groups, many are anticipating a few tasty fixtures to come out of the hat on Monday. 

There are two well-known stipulations in the draw. Teams from the same country cannot draw each other, nor can teams who played each other in the group stage. With those out of the way, let’s take a look at the possibilities for the 16 remaining teams in the draw. 

Arsenal
Winners, Group A

Possible Opponents:
Benfica, Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, Real Madrid, Porto or Sevilla

Paris Saint-Germain
Runners-up, Group A

Possible Opponents:
Napoli, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Leicester City or Juventus

Napoli
Winners, Group B

Possible Opponents:
Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, Real Madrid, Porto or Sevilla

Benfica
Runners-up, Group B

Possible Opponents:
Arsenal, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Monaco, Borussia Dortmund, Leicester City or Juventus

Barcelona
Winners, Group C

Possible Opponents:
Paris Saint-Germain, Benfica, Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen or Porto

Manchester City
Runners-up, Group C

Possible Opponents:
Napoli, Atletico Madrid, Monaco, Borussia Dortmund or Juventus

Atletico Madrid
Winners, Group D

Possible Opponents:
Paris Saint-Germain, Benfica, Manchester City, Bayer Leverkusen or Porto

Bayern Munich
Runners-up, Group D

Possible Opponents:
Arsenal, Napoli, Barcelona, Monaco, Leicester City or Juventus

Monaco
Winners, Group E

Possible Opponents:
Benfica, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Porto or Sevilla

Bayer Leverkusen
Runners-up, Group E

Possible Opponents:
Arsenal, Napoli, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Leicester City or Juventus

Borussia Dortmund
Winners, Group F

Possible Opponents:
Paris Saint-Germain, Benfica, Manchester City, Porto or Sevilla

Real Madrid
Runners-up, Group F

Possible Opponents:
Arsenal, Napoli, Monaco, Leicester City or Juventus

Leicester City
Winners, Group G

Possible Opponents:
Paris Saint-Germain, Benfica, Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, Real Madrid or Sevilla

Porto
Runners-up, Group G

Possible Opponents:
Arsenal, Napoli, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Monaco, Borussia Dortmund or Juventus

Juventus
Winners, Group H

Possible Opponents:
Paris Saint-Germain, Benfica, Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, Real Madrid or Porto

Sevilla
Runners-up, Group H

Possible Opponents:
Arsenal, Napoli, Monaco, Borussia Dortmund or Leicester City

Looking at all the permutations, I am going to have some fun and pick a few possible matchups from the draw that would have fans all over the world excited. The matches are listed, keeping in mind group runners-up play the first leg at home and group winners host the return leg.

Real Madrid vs Arsenal (Sanchez and Ozil vs Ronaldo, Bale and Benzema)

Bayern Munich vs Barcelona (Ancelotti renewing his rivalry with Enrique)

Paris Saint-Germain vs Napoli (The Edinson Cavani derby)

Porto vs Monaco (A repeat of the 2004 Champions League final)

Bayern Munich vs Arsenal (Can Arsenal turn the tables on Bayern with the second leg at home? Also, Wenger vs Ancelotti)

Paris Saint-Germain vs Atletico Madrid (Unai Emery versus Diego Simeone after some great battles in La Liga)

Manchester City vs Borussia Dortmund (Master against disciple and a renewal of Guardiola’s brief rivalry with Tuchel)

Real Madrid vs Juventus (So many classic two-legged battles between these two giants and Zinedine Zidane’s history at both clubs)

Paris Saint-Germain vs Barcelona (Unai Emery’s teams always give Barcelona a very good test)

Sevilla vs Borussia Dortmund (Two of the most intense teams in Europe helmed by cerebral managers in Jorge Sampaoli and Thomas Tuchel)

Manchester City vs Atletico Madrid (Guardiola vs Simeone)

Bayern Munich vs Juventus (Last year was a classic and we also get to see Milan’s two best recent managers in Ancelotti and Allegri)

Real Madrid vs Monaco (Two free-scoring teams and would be their first meeting since the classic 2004 quarterfinal)

Paris Saint-Germain vs Juventus (The most dominant domestic dynasties in Europe against each other)

Sevilla vs Arsenal (A team that has thrived on knockout football against one that gets the jitters)

Manchester City vs Juventus (Guardiola vs Allegri after their classic last year)

Paris Saint-Germain vs Borussia Dortmund (Cavani, Di Maria, Verratti against Aubameyang, Reus and Weigl, to name just a few)