Here’s how the Champions League round of 16 and round of 16 matches are going: could there be Real Madrid?

The new Champions League continues to develop and gradually the general public is adopting a different product.alternative and which to a certain extent provides a different scope compared to the previous model. All you have to do is see teams like Real Madrid, Manchester City or Paris Saint-Germain on the brink of collapse. However, its circumstance is due more to football itself than to the format, which is even more favorable for the classification of large teams than the previous one. It can even be stated that In this new stage of the league, it is almost impossible for the European colossus to fall at the first opportunity..

Crossings will be a different story. Now the top eight directly advance to the 1/8 finals, and 9th to 24th place involves a new round known as the playoffs or popularly called the sixteenth.. What already existed with nuances in the Europa League and Conference League and now reaches the highest continental competitions. A kind of extra life for all those who initially did not perform at the expected level, but have every right to compete for Orejona.

Some crossovers that will be completely impossible to predict until the last day of the group stage ends.. A dozen teams can easily achieve this with only two or three points difference. A victory could lead to a jump of six or seven places in the standings, as was seen during the first stage of this new competition.

What do couples look like?

It’s hard to explain a draw in words, but the best way to sum it up is to say that it works exactly like tennis. That is, Pairs of teams are formed, which only discuss whether they will go to the left or right side.. Given this, there are no additional conditions, since it is enough that all pairs are defined from the first moment. The image helps:

Let’s look at a very simple example: Liverpool and Inter are in first and second place respectively.. In the drawing they form a pair. The pairing directly implies that they will not be able to meet each other until the grand final. The drawing takes place as follows: Liverpool switch to one side, let’s take the left side, and Inter automatically switch to the right side.. The draw continues. It’s the turn of Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund. One goes to the left side, the other goes to the right.

But is this where it all ends? Yes, because the box was already marked before the start of the competition. The explanation is simple: We must attach importance to the final league positions: if there were a traditional draw, there would be no point in forming a total classification.. Thus, the first and second will meet in the 1/8 finals with classified places between 15 and 18, and in the quarter-finals with seventh and eighth. Let’s say they are “minor” competitors in the competition to evaluate what they have achieved at the league stage..

(Check the Champions League classification)

Is there any condition?

Since the picture is determined from the first moment, there are no conditions. It doesn’t matter which country and whether they have already met each other in the first stage. Moreover, it can happen. By proxy, Atalanta, Milan, Bologna and Juventus could finish 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th – positions that will face each other in the round of 16 on either side of the table.. The league phase has already limited the ability of teams from the same federation to see each other. Enough. Now everything is possible.

Will Real Madrid and Barcelona be able to meet in the 1/8 finals?

Yeah. And Real Atlético. Or Barcelona-Atlético. Or any type of tie you can think of. At least UEFA does not reflect this impossibility in the competition rules and has never commented on it. The draw will be “clean”. A tie with two possible matches for each team will be random.. Or four, if we take into account that it is located on one side or the other of the picture. This does not matter as the best classification in the league stage will always be the home team in the second leg.

Hidden secrets of the format: It may be better to finish 24th than 15th!

Surprising as it may seem, this is true. The last one classified in the round of 16 may have a better draw than the 15th.. The key point is to understand the mechanics of reviewing a Round of 16 match. A priori, this may seem as simple as 24th place versus first or second place in the second round. If this happens, who will you play against in the round of 16? It would be unfair for the ninth or tenth team to meet the best players of the first stage so quickly..

Therefore, a fair distribution was made, which does not leave the situation so bad for those who fall into it as a last resort, as long as they manage to overcome the round of sixteen.

It’s easier to understand with an example: Real Madrid (24th place) and Atlético Madrid (15th place).

In four days, Real Madrid is in 24th position, the last one to qualify for the round of 16.. In this round they will in any case meet the team that finished ninth or tenth. Paired with Dinamo Zagreb: one goes left, the other goes right. Aston Villa (9th place) and Sporting Portugal (10th place) also form a duo, which is distributed in one direction or the other.

Ancelotti’s men in this case will not have the home field factor in their favor in any case, as they will be in a worse position.. But given their own importance and that of their opponent, it would not be surprising if they progressed to the next stage.

There, precisely because they are 24th, they avoid the two leaders and in the 1/8 finals they will be paired with seventh or eighth: Arsenal or Monaco. Such a large gap has consequences in the quarterfinals. Madrid will now have to face leaders Liverpool or Inter..

Now let’s look at the case of Atlético Madrid (15th place). In the 1/8 finals they will play against Manchester City (17th place) or PSV (18th place). Let’s ignore the enormity of this round for a moment due to the situation in Guardiola’s team. Let’s move on to the next one. If the red-whites overcome it, then in the 1/8 finals they will have to meet Inter or Liverpool, the first two.. Reasonable punishment due to possible crossing of Madrid.