Champions League Predictions 2015-16: Arsenal, Barcelona, Chelsea Among Losers of the Round of 16 Draw
The Champions League draw was announced on Monday showcasing some wildly interesting matchups that should allow for some fun spectacle come February.
There were undoubtedly some big winners and some big losers. Teams that will love their draw and teams that will have nightmares about their scenario throughout the holiday season. So who are they? Let's have a look.
The Winners
Manchester City will be thrilled to have drawn Dynamo Kiev in the first knockout round. The team's last two opponents in this stage of the tournament have been Barcelona; in both draws Manchester was easily outclassed and embarrassed by the Catalan side.
So it stands that City will enter this tilt as the runaway favorite, taking on a team that barely got out of the first round but was lucky to see Porto lose its edge in the last second in the final two group games. That said, Kiev has been to the semifinal of the tournament as recent as 1998-99, when it was knocked out by Bayern Munich.
Atletico Madrid will also be thrilled to draw PSV Einhoven, a side that few had making it out of the group stage. Ditto for Zenit St. Petersburg. Despite having underlying stats that suggest that the team is bound for an implosion sooner or later, the club is likely thrilled to be facing Benfica instead of Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain.
Speaking of which...
The Losers
The top teams in this tournament got the hardest draws. Arsenal has Barcelona, Bayern Munich has Juventus, Real Madrid has Roma and Chelsea has Paris Saint-Germain. Simply put, by the time we get to the quarterfinals, the pool will have whittled down quickly with the remaining contenders likely to be in pole position to make the semifinals.
But they still have to navigate the complicated Round of 16. Arsenal got out of the group stage by pure miracle only to have to face the best team in the tournament. Bayern Munich's terrific group stage is now overshadowed by a meeting with last year's finalist, and for the third straight year it will be Chelsea and PSG exchanging pleasantries. The English club got the best two years ago but the Parisian side turned it around a year ago.