The UEFA Champions League 2021-2022 season has reached an advanced stage and some of the big clubs in the tournament have already made their way to the next round of the competition.
After this week’s mid-week UEFA Champions League group matches, eleven clubs qualified for the tournament’s round of 16 with one game to spare. This means that there are still five more spots up for grabs and that will be settled on December 7 and 8, 2021 when all the clubs play their last group game of the season.
On Wednesday, November 24, 2021, Manchester City beat Paris Saint Germain 2-1 to guarantee their place in the UEFA Champions League round of 16. This means that all the four Premier League clubs – City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United, that qualified for the 2021-2022 edition of the tournament have made it to the next round.
Liverpool qualified for the round of 16 as leaders of Group B. Manchester United and Manchester City also made it to the next round as leaders of their respective groups.
If Chelsea defeat Zenith on December 8, they would finish the UEFA Champions League group stage as the leaders of Group H ahead of Juventus. The reigning UEFA Champions League winners are currently leaders of their group.
Below are the teams that have qualified for the UEFA Champions League 2021-2022 round of 16:
As mentioned earlier, 11 clubs have qualified for UEFA Champions League 2021-2022 round of 16 with a game to spare.
Premier League sides: Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, and Chelsea have made it to the next stage of the competition.
German Bundesliga side Bayern Munich; Serie A clubs Juventus and Inter Milan have confirmed their places in the next round of the tournament.
Also, French club Paris Saint Germain, Portuguese side Sporting Lisbon, Spanish giants Real Madrid, and Dutch club Ajax have all made it to the round of 16.
While the following clubs have been knocked out of the competition: Besiktas, RB Leipzig, Malmo, Dynamo Kyiv, Young Boys, Zenit St Petersburg, Club Bruges, Borussia Dortmund, Sheriff Tiraspol, Shakhtar Donetsk.
When is the draw for the Champions League last 16?
All things being equal, the European football governing body, UEFA, plans to carry out the Champions League last-16 draw in Nyon, Switzerland on December 13.
During the draws, the eight clubs that finish top of their groups will be seeded which means that they will not play against each other. They will be paired against the clubs that came second in the eight groups.
Also, clubs from the same group and clubs from the same league will not be allowed to play against each other at this stage of the tournament.
The group leaders will have the privilege of playing the first leg of the round away from home and then the second leg at home.
The first leg of the UEFA Champions League round of 16 will take place on February 15-16 and February 22-23. While the second leg of the round will take place on March 8-9 and March 15-16.
Below are the teams that can still qualify for the UEFA Champions League round of 16:
Group B: Porto, Atletico Madrid, or AC Milan
Group E: Barcelona or Benfica
Group F: Villarreal or Atalanta
Group G: RB Salzburg, Lille, Wolfsburg, or Sevilla
