Champions League Round of Sixteen Draw Preview & Odds

Reigning Champions face Ajax

Real Madrid
Real Madrid © GEPA pictures

There often comes a heavy price for not winning a Champions League group and both Liverpool and Manchester United have found that out. Liverpool will be going up against German giants Bayern Munich in their round of sixteen clash in the Champions League, while Manchester United have to try and deal with PSG.

Man City and Spurs, like Liverpool, will face German opposition in Schalke and Borussia Dortmund respectively.

The first legs of the round of sixteen take place on 12-13 and 19-20 February 2019. The reverse fixtures will be played on March 5-6 and 12-13, 2019.

Champions League Winner odds*

Man City 3/1
Barcelona 9/2
Juventus 6/1
PSG 7/1
Liverpool 10/1
Real Madrid 12/1
Bayern Munich 14/1
Atletico Madrid 20/1
Tottenham 25/1
Borussia Dortmund 33/1
Manchester United 50/1
Ajax 80/1
Porto 100/1
Roma 100/1
Lyon 125/1
Schalke 250/1
* (betting odds taken from bet365 on December 17th, 2018 at 12:16 pm)

Visit Bet365

Round of Sixteen Draw

Schalke v Manchester City
Atletico Madrid v Juventus
Manchester United v Paris St-Germain
Tottenham v Borussia Dortmund
Lyon v Barcelona
Roma v Porto
Ajax v Real Madrid
Liverpool v Bayern Munich

Manchester United v PSG

Manchester United’s group stage campaign wasn’t exactly filled with glory for them and after not chasing top spot on matchday six, they have paid a heavy price. They go up against French champions PSG, who traded home wins with Liverpool in the group stage. This will be United’s first ever encounter with PSG. With all of the struggles the Red Devils have had this season, being a long way off the pace in the Premier League title race and heavily criticized for performances, it is PSG who are 3/10 favourites To Qualify* (betting odds taken from bet365 on December 17th, 2018 at 12:16 pm)

Liverpool v Bayern Munich

The Reds finished second in their group behind PSG. Reds boss Jurgen Klopp is no stranger to meetings with Bayern Munich. He has actually had more managerial duels with Bayern Munich than any other club during his career (29), thanks to his time with Borussia Dortmund. Klopp’s record incidentally against Bayern is W9 D4 L16. The last time that Bayern and Liverpool met was in the 2001 UEFA Super Cup which Liverpool won 3-2. Bayern aren’t having the greatest of seasons under Niko Kovac, sitting only in third in the Bundesliga. But they made light work of their group stage campaign to be fair. Liverpool are the 3/4 favourites To Qualify* (betting odds taken from bet365 on December 17th, 2018 at 12:16 pm).

Schalke v Man City

Group winners Manchester City will be heading into a duel with Schalke for the first time in their history. The Citizens are the outright favourites to win this season’s Champions League and this is a pretty comfortable draw for them by the looks of it. Schalke finished second in Group D behind Porto and with Man City responding so well from a Match Day One loss against Lyon to top theirs, it is little surprise to City sitting a strong 1/33 odds favourites to win this tie outright* (betting odds taken from bet365 on December 17th, 2018 at 12:16 pm).

Tottenham v Borussia Dortmund

The Group Stage campaign was a rough ride for Tottenham and the round of sixteen draw doesn’t get any easier. The Lilywhites took just one point from their opening three group stage matches but managed to still fight back and squeeze their way through to the knockout stage. A draw at Barcelona in their final group match was just enough for them to beat out Inter. There could be rough waters ahead for Spurs in this time as Dortmund are in tremendous form this season. BVB are leading the Bundesliga by nine points and topped their Champions League group ahead of Atletico Madrid. In last season’s Group Stage Spurs and Dortmund were together, Tottenham winning 3-1 at home and 2-1 away. You can take an early price of 10/11 on either To Qualify* (betting odds taken from bet365 on December 17th, 2018 at 12:16 pm).

Ajax v Real Madrid

Real Madrid threw out some dodgy performances in the group stage, but they still managed to win that group. The reigning champions will fancy their chances against Ajax. The Spaniards have won their last six games on the bounce against Ajax. In that spell of six games, Real Madrid have fired off 20 goals and have conceded just the 2. The overall head to head between the two famous European clubs stands at 7-4 with one drawn game in favour of Real Madrid. Their most recent meeting was back in the 2012 group stage, with Real Madrid winning both meetings 4-1. Ajax qualified in second place from this season’s Group Stage behind Bayern Munich. Real Madrid are the 1/8 favourites To Qualify* (betting odds taken from bet365 on December 17th, 2018 at 12:16 pm).

Atletico Madrid v Juventus

This is the real heavyweight showdown of the round of sixteen. How did we get here? It is because Atletico Madrid could only finish second to Borussia Dortmund in the group stage (level on points). So they have gotten the short straw of the draw as they have to go up against Juventus. The Old Lady topped their group, despite a shock home loss against Manchester United and away loss at Young Boys. This should be some duel. Atletico Madrid are unbeaten in their last nine games against Italian opposition. That includes their 2014 group stage meetings against Juve which Atletico won 1-0 at home and took a 0-0 in Turin. Juventus lead the overall head to head 4-2 with the one drawn game. You can only imagine that this is going to be as tight as it gets but Juventus are 2/5 odds-on To Qualify* (betting odds taken from bet365 on December 17th, 2018 at 12:16 pm).

Lyon v Barcelona

Lyon finished second in their Group Stage campaign behind Manchester City. To their credit, they took four points from their two games against the English champions. How will they fare against Barcelona? They have met three times before in the UEFA Champions League, Barcelona holding an unbeaten W4 D2 record from the six matches. Four of those six games produced at least three goals in them and Lyon haven’t earned a clean sheet against their Spanish counterparts before. Barcelona went about their business in the group stage quietly, efficiently and at some times brilliantly. They topped their group ahead of Spurs, remaining unbeaten. Barcelona are the 1/14 odds-on favourites To Qualify* (betting odds taken from bet365 on December 17th, 2018 at 12:16 pm).

Roma v Porto

FC Porto were group winners over Schalke and this is a repeat of last season’s playoff meeting in the Champions League. It was Porto who came through that tie 4-1 on aggregate so they can take that positive into this one. Those were the only two previous games between the two clubs. Roma scrapped their way through to second place in Group G behind Real Madrid but didn’t have it all that easy at all in a W3 L3 record there. If there hadn’t been a draw between Plzen and CSKA Moscow back on matchday one as it turned out, Roma would have been in qualification trouble at the end. You can take 10/11 on either To Qualify* (betting odds taken from bet365 on December 17th, 2018 at 12:16 pm).