Last 16 standing await European fate
The round of 16 Champions League draw takes place at 11am today in Nyon, Switzerland (live on BT Sport 2 and uefa.com). Here we profile the remaining sides and their chances of success.
GROUP WINNERS
Coach: Ernesto Valverde
Star player: Lionel Messi
Champions League/European Cup best: Winners 1992, 2006, 2009, 2011, 2015
Chances: Barca have been formidable at times in Europe this season, with the LaLiga leaders’ unbeaten Group B campaign having featured a 4-0 win over PSV and 4-2 victory at Tottenham. There appears little to suggest Messi and co are not ready to go all the way.
Odds: 5-1
Key stat: Messi set a new record when he netted the eighth Champions League hat-trick in the 4-0 victory over PSV — he has more trebles in the competition than anyone else, having surpassed Cristiano Ronaldo’s tally of seven.
Coach: Niko Kovac
Star player: Robert Lewandowski
Champions League/European Cup best: Winners 1974, 1975, 1976, 2001, 2013
Chances: Bayern have had their struggles this term but eased through Group E, ending up, like Barcelona, with 14 points. Still a force to be reckoned with.
Odds: 10-1
Key stat: Lewandowski is the top scorer in this season’s competition with eight goals.
Coach: Lucien Favre
Star player: Marco Reus
Champions League/European Cup best: Winners 1997
Chances: Dortmund have been impressive domestically and in Europe in 2018-‘19. Unbeaten at the top of the Bundesliga and their Group A results included a 4-0 win over Atletico Madrid, they will be test for anyone.
Odds: 33-1
Key stat: Dortmund’s Jadon Sancho became the second-youngest Englishman to score in the Champions League with his goal in the 4-0 thrashing of Atletico.
Coach: Massimiliano Allegri
Star player: Cristiano Ronaldo
iWinners 1985, 1996
Chances: The summer acquisition of five-time winner Ronaldo seemed a clear statement of intent by Juventus in terms of the Champions League, and topping Group H has made for a good start.
Odds: 6-1
Key stat: Ronaldo is the highest scorer in Champions League history — he has netted 121 times.
Coach: Pep Guardiola
Star player: Sergio Aguero
Champions League/European Cup best: Semi-finals 2016
Chances: After a shock 2-1 home loss to Lyon in their opener, City have gone about things pretty effectively in Group F, finishing with 13 points and thrashing Shakhtar Donetsk 6-0 en route. Guardiola’s men, beaten for the first time in the Premier League this season last weekend at Chelsea, are one of the favourites to lift this trophy.
Odds: 7-2
Key stat: City’s Riyad Mahrez is joint-top of the list for assists in this season’s competition with four, alongside Valencia’s Carlos Soler.
Coach: Thomas Tuchel
Star player: Neymar
Champions League/European Cup best: Semi-final 1995
Chances: PSG finished top having recovered from losing their first game, 3-2 at Liverpool — indeed, they were third after four games before beating the Reds 2-1 and winning 4-1 at Red Star Belgrade. With Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, and Edinson Cavani, the Ligue 1 leaders have arguably the most feared attack in Europe.
Odds: 15-2
Key stat: PSG scored most goals in the group stage — 17.
Coach: Sergio Conceicao
Star player: Moussa Marega
Champions League/European Cup best: Winners 1987, 2004
Chances: Porto only dropped two points in Group D, but it was a somewhat weak-looking pool and one imagines they are the team the clubs who finished second would most like to face in the last 16.
Odds: 125-1
Key stat: Keeper Iker Casillas holds the record for most Champions League appearances — 173.
Coach: Santiago Solari
Star player: Luka Modric
Champions League/European Cup best: Winners 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1966, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018
Chances: A turbulent season so far for Real has seen some poor results under both Julen Lopetegui and his replacement Solari. Fourth in LaLiga, although the European champions topped Group G, they were beaten 1-0 away and 3-0 at home by CSKA Moscow. they are winners four times in the last five seasons and 13 times in total.
Odds: 10-1
Key stat: The second CSKA loss was Real’s heaviest ever European home defeat.
GROUP RUNNERS-UP
Coach: Erik Ten Hag
Star player: Klaas-Jan Huntelaar
Champions League/European Cup best: Winners 1971, 1972, 1973, 1995
Chances: Do not look like proper contenders, but can cause problems.
Odds: 80-1
Key stat: This is the first time Ajax have progressed from their section since 2005/06.
Coach: Diego Simeone
Star player: Antoine Griezmann
Champions League/European Cup best: Runners-up 1974, 2014, 2016
Chances: Simeone has taken them deep in this competition in previous years and could well do so again.
Odds: 20-1
Key stat: Atletico accrued the most amount of points of all the second-placed teams.
Coach: Jurgen Klopp
Star player: Mohamed Salah
Champions League/European Cup best: Winners 1977, 1978, 1981, 1984, 2005
Chances: Klopp’s men have the ability to hurt any opposition when things are clicking and Reds fans will be dreaming of them bettering being last term’s beaten finalists.
Odds: 10-1
Key stat: Klopp has been a Champions League runner-up with Liverpool and Dortmund (2012-13)
Coach: Bruno Genesio
Star player: Memphis Depay
Champions League/European Cup best: Semi-finals 2010
Chances: Having beaten City, Lyon drew all five of their remaining games in Group F. They are fourth in Ligue 1 and look like a favourable club to be drawn against.
Odds: 125-1
Key stat: Lyon conceded more goals in the group stage than any other qualifying team (11).
Coach: Jose Mourinho
Star player: David De Gea
Champions League/European Cup best: Winners 1968, 1999, 2008
Chances: Beaten well by Liverpool yesterday, they have looked unconvincing a lot of the time in Champions League Group H but the 2-1 win at Juventus showed they remain dangerous.
Odds: 40-1
Key stat: Mourinho is looking to win the Champions League with a third club, having triumphed with Porto (2004) and Inter (2010).
Coach: Eusebio Di Francesco
Star player: Edin Dzeko
Champions League/European Cup best: Runners-up 1984.
Chances: A team with Dzeko up front is always dangerous but Roma are not firing on all cylinders by any means this season. Outsiders for sure.
Odds: 150-1
Key stat: Dzeko is joint third in the top scorers in the competition so far this season with five goals.
Coach: Domenico Tedesco
Star player: Nabil Bentaleb
Champions League/European Cup best: Semi-finals 2011.
Chances: The longest odds of any team into the last 16 and it is not hard to see why.
Odds: 200-1
Key stat: Schalke relied on their defence to progress, winning three and drawing two of their six games despite scoring only six goals.
Coach: Mauricio Pochettino
Star player: Harry Kane
Champions League/European Cup best: Semi-finals 1962
Chances: Took just one point from their opening three games, but dug deep to make it through with a draw in Barcelona.
Consistency is the key issue for Pochettino’s side.
Odds: 25-1
Key stat: Only four teams have had more attempts in the group stages than Spurs (105) but 11 have scored more goals (nine).
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