The final sixteen teams left standing in the UEFA Champions League this season now all know their fate for the first knockout stage. There are some massive games coming up and Arsenal, despite finally getting the group win that has been evading them for a while, still managed to come up with the short straw. That is because the Gunners have been drawn against German powerhouses Bayern Munich for the round of sixteen and immediately Arsene Wenger’s men went on the drift in the outright winner market for UEFA Champions League betting. The two big guns that Arsenal could have faced in this round were either Real Madrid or Bayern Munich and they unfortunately got one of them.
Arsenal are now out at a big 28/1 price with online betting site Coral at the moment with Bayern Munich in at 4/1 second favourites to take the title. Manchester City will get a shot at French outfit Monaco who got the better of Tottenham in the group stage, while debutants Leicester won’t totally be unhappy with their round of sixteen draw as they take on La Liga opponents in the form of Sevilla. But there is one more huge clash that has to be noted for the Champions League 2017 Last 16 and that is PSG v Barcelona. After the draw, Barcelona sit as 10/3 favourites to go out and sweep the title.
Champions League Winner Betting Odds
Barcelona 10/3, Bayern Munich 4/1, Real Madrid 9/2, Atletico Madrid 8/1, Manchester City 10/1, Borussia Dortmund 12/1, Juventus 14/1, Arsenal 28/1, PSG 33/1, Sevilla 40/1, Leicester 50/1, Napoli 80/1, 100/1 bar
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Champions League 2017 Last 16 Draw
14 February & 8 March
Benfica (POR) v Borussia Dortmund (GER)
Paris Saint-Germain (FRA) v Barcelona (ESP)
15 February & 7 March
Real Madrid (ESP, holders) v Napoli (ITA)
Bayern München (GER) v Arsenal (ENG)
21 February & 15 March
Manchester City (ENG) v Monaco (FRA)
Bayer Leverkusen (GER) v Atlético Madrid (ESP)
22 February & 14 March
Porto (POR) v Juventus (ITA)
Sevilla (ESP) v Leicester City (ENG)
Champions League 2017 Last 16 Match Previews and Predictions
Benfica v Borussia Dortmund
If there is a dark horse running in the competition that could come through and spring a huge surprise on the field then it will be Borussia Dortmund. BVB held off Real Madrid by taking four points off the Spanish giants in the group stage and notably fought back from 2-0 down at the Bernabeu to claim a 2-2 draw on matchday six which saw them hold top spot. They can certainly perform and will be happy with this draw. Dortmund have big scoring power in their ranks and they are a price of 2/7 odds on to qualify from their tie with Benfica. Big dominance and the last time that they these met was in the 1963/64 European Cup when Dortmund won 7-1 on aggregate.
Prediction: Dortmund
PSG v Barcelona
Paris are certainly paying for their slip up in letting Arsenal sneak past them into top spot in their group on match day six. Huge blow for PSG’s hopes as they have go into battle with the tournament favourites. The Catalans knocked out PSG in both the 2012/13 and 2014/15 quarter finals of the UEFA Champions League. Even though Barcelona have looked a little short of their dominant best this season, they are 2/9 favourites to qualify from the tite. Most of the damage in this one will probably done at the Nou Camp, and it’s hard to see PSG having enough in the tank to edge out the Spaniards over the two legs, even if they were to avoid default on home soil.
Prediction: Barcelona
Real Madrid v Napoli
Did anyone actually notice Napoli’s qualifying from the group stage? It was a low key campaign from them but they were efficient in getting their group won in what was a pretty weak group in taking on Benfica, Besiktas and Dynamo Kiev. This is a huge step up in quality of opposition then for them and they are likely to struggle. Real Madrid took a 3-1 aggregate the only previous time these two came together in Europe which was back in the 1987/88 European Cup. Real Madrid are very strong under Zinedine Zidane at the moment and despite failing to in their group against Dortmund, won’t exactly be stressing about this draw.
Prediction: Real Madrid
Bayern Munich v Arsenal
This should be a fantastic tie. Since the 2000/01 season Arsenal and Bayern have played ten matches and the Germans are ahead 5-3 in the head to head from that. Tough draw for Arsenal because they aren’t keeping clean sheets this season and Bayern, largely through Robert Lewandowski, don’t need second invitations to stick the ball in the net. Bayern could only take second place behind Atletico Madrid in their group, losing two of their games and while they are still one of the best on the continent, there have been cracks there this season, like Thomas Muller’s long Bundesliga goalscoring drought that he went through. That may allow Arsenal to get close. It may not be close enough, though.
Prediction: Bayern Munich
Man City v Monaco
These two have never met. The long break between the group stage and the round of sixteen will see Manchester City have to produce a lot of work. As they showed in the group stage they are capable on their day of beating the best, as they took down Barcelona at the Etihad. Monaco topped their group against Bayer Leverkusen and Tottenham and actually played some efficient, savvy stuff along the way. Unless Manchester City manage to improve drastically under Guardiola before the round of sixteen, there may be some value in seeing the French club move through in this one. They look as if they have a bit of nous about them and will be particularly tough to get the better off on home soil. Monaco beat Spurs twice in the group stage and may edge a very close tie. Monaco are 9/4 to qualify from the tie at Coral, decent looking value.
Prediction: Monaco
Bayer Leverkusen v Atletico Madrid
These two are no strangers to each other with four games played out between them recently, starting with a 2010/11 Europa League group stage meeting and then a round of sixteen tie a couple of seasons ago in the UEFA Champions League. Things have been tight between them with two 1-1 draws in the Europa League meetings and then a penalty shoot-out win for Atletico in the Champions League. Atletico are their usual selves, hard working and tough to beat. They have big threats up front as well and Bayer Leverkusen aren’t so solid at the back that they can outsmart Diego Simeone’s men.
Prediction: Atletico Madrid
Porto v Juventus
These two were together in the 2001/02 UEFA Champions League Group stage and Juventus took four points off the Portuguese outfit. Because of being in one of the less competitive groups, Juventus’s progress went largely unnoticed, but they went unbeaten in the group stage this season, winning four of their six. They are a very solid side, not strong enough most likely to go much beyond the quarter finals of this year’s competition, but they should have the beating of Porto. Porto didn’t exactly impress in their group in finishing second behind debutants Leicester. They struggled for goals (forget that 5-0 win over a much-changed, already-qualified Leicester side on matchday six) and are likely to come up short against the Old Lady.
Prediction: Juventus
Sevilla v Leicester
So can Leicester’s European adventures continue? While there were tougher draws that they could have gotten, this is still a very tough tie for the Foxes to get through. Sevilla are enjoying another solid season in La Liga and their only loss in the group stage was against Juventus. At the time of the draw, Sevilla look far too strong for Leicester who, let’s not forget, came through a pretty weak group to get to this stage. So this will be a tough step up in level of opposition for the Foxes and this is where their UEFA Champions League adventure is likely to stop. The Foxes are 6/4 underdogs to qualify from this tie.
Prediction: Sevilla
UEFA Champions League 2016/17 Dates:
- Quarter-final draw: 17 March
- Quarter-finals: 11/12 and 18/19 April
- Semi-final draw: 21 April 2017
- Semi-finals: 2/3 and 9/10 May
- Final: 3 June 2017 at National Stadium Wales, Cardiff
