Champions League Draw Plots the Road to Munich in 2025

Friday's Champions League knockout stage draw in Switzerland plotted out the entire bracket from the forthcoming last 16 stage all the way to the 74th European Cup final, due to be held on 31st May at the Allianz Arena in Munich.

Despite Manchester City's elimination to Real Madrid earlier in the week, three Premier League sides were in the draw, with Liverpool (1st), Arsenal (3rd) and Aston Villa (8th) all finishing in the top eight of the League Phase to qualify directly for the last 16.

Liverpool were certainly handed the toughest tie out of the three English sides, despite finishing top of the League Phase, with Paris Saint Germain awaiting the Premier League leaders.

Aston Villa will take on Belgian Champions Club Brugge, who beat the Villains 1 - 0 in the League Phase.

Arsenal do statistically have the easiest draw of the lot, taking on Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven, but the catch is that the Gunners would then have to face the winner of the Madrid Derby in the quarter-finals.

These three ties, as well as the other five, made up a fantastic draw which promises plenty of excitement; let's break it down into the four quarters.

For the remainder of the competition, the team shown on top in each tie will host the first leg. The finalist from the silver side of the bracket will be the procedural "home" team in the final.

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This section of the new-look bracket quite possibly features the most and least exciting ties of the round.

The Madrid Derby is one of the fiercest in Europe. Atleti and Real are locked in an intense title race, with all the emotions connected with city and league rivalry on display. Their meeting at the Bernabeu earlier this month was no exception.

La Liga's title race has already stoked the rivalry between these sides, with the two Madrid clubs right on the tails of leaders Barcelona. But this red hot rivalry may well hit boiling point in one (or both) of the two last 16 games taking place next month.

Real and Atleti have not met in European competition since the 2018 UEFA Super Cup, which Atletico won 4 - 2 after extra time at a bizarrely appointed venue in Estonia.

Their most recent Champions League meeting went the other way, with Real Madrid cruising to a 4 - 2 aggregate win in the 2017 semi-finals on their way to successfully defending the trophy.

Luck can't really be much worse than having the biggest and most successful club in the world as your rivals, but Atletico have made a good run of it; Girona's third-place finish last season broke an eleven-year streak of Atletico finishing in the top three (all alongside Barcelona and Real Madrid).

Diego Simeone's side won two titles in that stretch, and finished above Real Madrid in four of these eleven seasons.

Real Madrid though are big favourite though, because when it comes to the Champions League, they simply get the job done. Los Blancos have twice as many European Cups as any other club, underlining their sheer dominance of European football.

As much as the Champions League provides plenty of shocks, Arsenal are just as big if not bigger favourites to win their last 16 tie.

The Gunners will face PSV for the third season in a row and will be confident of setting up a blockbuster European showdown in the quarter-finals.

PSV are dangerous, make no mistake of that; the Dutch side put four past a well-drilled Juventus team over the two legs of their playoff tie. But Arsenal's defensive prowess will likely mean that a goal in each leg should be enough to see the Premier League side progress.

The Gunners' record against the two Madrid sides is exactly opposite. On their route to the 2006 Champions League final, Arsenal became the first English side to win at the Bernabeu through Thierry Henry's outrageous solo goal, which was enough to win the tie 1 - 0.

12 years later, Atletico Madrid edged an equally tense affair with the Gunners 2 - 1 on aggregate in the Europa League semi-finals; Atleti went on to beat Marseille in the final.

PSV shouldn't be discounted of course, but given the ease with which Arsenal dispatched them at the Emirates in their 4 - 0 win last season, the Dutch side would have to pull off one of the shocks of the Champions League season to stop Mikel Arteta heading home to Spain in the quarter-finals.

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Paris Saint Germain were in genuine danger of heading out of the Champions League altogether at the start of 2025, but after League Phase wins over Manchester City and Stuttgart, followed by an utter demolition of Ligue 1 rivals Brest, the French Champions have earned an enticing tie with Liverpool.

Arne Slot's side have stuttered in recent weeks, but Luis Enrique will be well aware of just how dangerous Liverpool have been at points this season.

The Reds are top of the Premier League, in the Carabao Cup final and finished top of the League Phase. Dodgy form or not, these are the hallmarks of a team to be reckoned with.

PSG's hope will be that they can continue to improve while Liverpool hit a rut; Les Parisiens have scored 18 goals across their last four Champions League games, and Liverpool aren't exactly watertight at the moment.

Whichever of these great sides make it through will be favourites for the subsequent quarter-final against Aston Villa or Club Brugge.

Villa were certainly the least favoured of the four Premier League sides heading into the competition this season, but their win over Bayern Munich caught the attention of everyone in Europe.

Well, everyone apart from Club Brugge it seems.

The Belgian Champions defended admirably in their 1 - 0 victory over Unai Emery's side in November, and although the winning goal was the result of an incredibly controversial penalty, there was no controversy in the way Nicky Hayen's side kept the Villains out.

Perhaps the only weakness of the Belgians in the League Phase was their poor attacking record, scoring just seven goals in their eight matches. But they've already got to work on reversing this, almost matching that tally with five in their playoff tie against Atalanta.

Regardless of the outcome of either tie, Liverpool or PSG will certainly be favourites in the quarter-final, but both Aston Villa and Club Brugge have shown enough this season to suggest that they can give either opponents a run for their money.

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If you want goals, this is the quarter to come to; Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund's League Phase matches included a total of 75 goals, an average of 4.68 goals per game.

Arguably the best game of the inaugural League Phase was the one between Barca and Portuguese side Benfica. The clash in Lisbon was an epic, emotional rollercoaster which ended 5 - 4 to Barcelona; only two of the eight playoff ties had nine goals between the two legs.

With half-an-hour to go, Barcelona trailed 3 - 1 and, having remained quite cautious in their approach for the first hour of the game, threw caution to wind.

The culmination of one of the best 30-minute periods in Champions League history was a 96th-minute winner from Raphinha, securing Barcelona's place in the last 16.

It goes without saying that any sort of repeat would be enthralling, especially with the first leg taking place in Lisbon. If Benfica do build an early lead, the football world can only hope that Barcelona adopt a similar approach and throw everything they'd got at the Portuguese side.

Borussia Dortmund often have a similar attitude to chasing a deficit, hence high-scoring games against Real Madrid and Barcelona in the League Phase.

While the Germans did lose both games (5 - 2 to Real, 3 - 2 to Barca), they certainly entertained in the process. Dortmund understood the need for good goal difference better than most, and as a result, finished above three sides with the same points tally as themselves in the League Phase.

Niko Kovac has had mixed fortunes since taking over at the Signal Iduna Park, but the ease with which his side dispatched Sporting in his first Champions League matches in charge will please him and his supporters.

Lille however are a tough opponent. The French side are 15 points behind leaders PSG in Ligue 1 but have consistently upped their game in European competition this season.

Shock wins over both Madrid clubs in the League Phase underlined the French side as serious European contenders this season, and Dortmund must be wise in order to avoid the pit falls that cost both Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.

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Much like the first section of the bracket, there's only one tie to start with in this quarter.

Bayern Munich first played Bayer Leverkusen in 1979 and the two sides have since met over 100 times... but not once in European competition.

Rather than dwelling on how this is possible, it's far more exciting to focus on the mouthwatering tie that awaits.

Bayer Leverkusen made history last season with an unprecedented unbeaten domestic season, taking the title from a Bayern side who had reigned supreme in the Bundesliga since 2013.

This season Bayern are very much in control of the title race, leading Leverkusen by eight points with 12 games remaining. Both games between the sides however have ended level.

Perhaps more interestingly though, Bayern haven't won any of their last six against Xabi Alonso's side, last beating them in September 2022.

While it's virtually impossible to call the all-German tie in this section, it's slightly more straightforward to pick a favourite in the tie that will decide their quarter-final opponents.

Inter Milan reached the Champions League final two seasons ago, and although they were disappointed to be eliminated by Atletico Madrid at this stage last season, they're a team who are thriving under Simone Inzaghi.

The Italian champions are a point ahead of closest rivals Napoli as they chase back-to-back titles, and although they've stuttered in the league with recent defeats to Fiorentina and Juventus, I Nerazzurri are in a far better place than opponents Feyenoord.

Elimination from the Dutch Cup as well as poor form in the league has led Feyenoord to change managers, appointing former striker Robin van Persie this week.

There will be no settling-in period for the former Arsenal and Manchester United forward, as just his third game in the dugout will be the first leg of this tie at Feyenoord Stadium.

The Dutch side showed grit and determination to battle past 10-man AC Milan in the playoff round, but they would need a significantly bigger shock to knock out the blue side of Milan.

It seems like every time there's another draw or round of fixtures, more fans are converted by this new Champions League format, but love it or hate it, it's back to how it always has been at this stage; win or go home.

The Road to Munich will be long and difficult for the two sides who battle through heavyweight ties to the final in Germany, but new format or not, this is still the biggest prize in club football.