Who can Chelsea play in the Champions League knockout stage?
Chelsea’s draw with Atletico Madrid on Tuesday night means they only finished second in Group C, and are guaranteed a tougher draw in the round of 16 as a result.
The Blues fought back from 1-0 down to salvage a point against the Spaniards, but it wasn’t enough as Roma’s win against Qarabag means that they top the group on virtue of the head-to-head ruling.
For the last 16, the rule is that you cannot be drawn against a team from the same country or the team from your group. As things stand this leaves just three opponents for Chelsea, potentially four if Liverpool fail to win their group tonight.
Manchester United, Manchester City and Tottenham have all won their groups and the Blues cannot face Roma.
This means that they will play against either Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain or Besiktas in the last 16. If Liverpool don’t win tonight they could also play Spartak Moscow or Sevilla.
With at least a 50% chance of facing Lionel Messi or Neymar in the last 16, Blues fans will rue last night’s result if it means them facing one of the tournament favourites so early in the competition.
Back in 2016, the Blues were knocked out by PSG by a 4-2 aggregate scoreline, although they did famously beat Barcelona on the way to winning the Champions League in the 2012 semi-final.
When is the draw? The draw takes place next Monday 11th December in Nyon, France at 11:00am BST.
Who can Chelsea play in the Champions League knockout stage?
Read more about Chelsea and Champions League
- Chelsea Player Salaries 2017
- Premier League Transfers 2017
- Chelsea Player Transfers List 2017
- Champions League top scorers
- Champions League each season’s leading goal scorer
- Champions League Golden Boot Winners list
- Most Assists in Champions League
- Top goalkeepers, defenders, midfielders and strikers in Champions League
- More about the Champions League
Read more about Chelsea at chelseafc.com.
