Premier League leaders, Arsenal, will travel to face FC Porto when the UEFA Champions League resumes with the knockout stages in February 2024.
Mikel Arteta’s side and the other remaining 15 teams found out their round of 16 opponents when the draw took place in Nyon, Switzerland on Monday. Group winners were seeded for the draw and will play the second leg of their ties at home.
Arsenal’s return to the Champions League this season after a six-year absence has been relatively smooth sailing as they topped Group B and scored 16 goals across the six group fixtures. There was a slight slip-up on matchday 2 for Arteta’s side as they fell to a 2-1 defeat away to Lens, but Arsenal responded to that loss with a brilliant win against Sevilla on the road.
The Gunners have faced their round of 16 opponents at this stage before in the Champions League as the two faced off in the 2009/10 season. Arsenal were victorious on that occasion, winning 6-2 on aggregate and it was the last time the club advanced from the round of 16 stage and into the quarter finals of the competition.
Arsenal will be considered strong favourites for the tie as they are the seeded side, but their Portuguese opponents will be no pushover. FC Porto had an impressive group stage campaign, as they won four out of the six matches and matched Barcelona with getting 12 points and even had a better goal difference than the La Liga side.
However, FC Porto had an inferior head-to-head record compared to Barcelona and that meant they finished in second spot in Group H and were unseeded for the last 16 draw.
The other Premier League representative remaining in the Champions League is the current holders, Manchester City, and they will continue their defence of the trophy with a tie against Danish side, FC Copenhagen. Pep Guardiola’s side topped Group G with six wins from six but they did make hard work in some of their fixtures.
The defending champions often were pegged back or behind in games against RB Leipzig, Young Boys and Crvena Zvezda, but they inevitably found breakthroughs when required. Manchester City are considered the favourite by many to retain the Champions League this season, but performances will need to improve if they are to repeat last season’s success.
The displays by Guardiola’s side have also been below par domestically as they have won just one out of their last six Premier League games and subsequently sit fourth in the league table.
FC Copenhagen upset the odds when they qualified as runner-up in Group A as many expected them to struggle in a group that also contained Bayern Munich, Manchester United and Galatasaray. However, the Danish side were resilient and showed quality when required, particularly in their stunning 4-3 home win over Manchester United on matchday five.
Despite the impressive nature of FC Copenhagen’s European campaign so far, Manchester City should not have any major difficulties in dealing with their round of 16 opponents.
Arguably the tie of the round will be between current Serie A champions, Napoli, and La Liga holders, Barcelona. Whilst the Spanish giants topped Group H, Napoli finished second in Group C, behind Real Madrid, whom they lost to both home and away.
Another intriguing and evenly-matched-up fixture in the last 16 will be between Group D runner-up and last season’s beaten finalists, Inter Milan, and Group E winners, Atlético Madrid.
Paris Saint Germain, who finished second in Group F, looked set for a very tough draw due to being unseeded, but they managed to avoid the likes of Manchester City, Real Madrid, Barcelona or Bayern Munich.
The Ligue 1 champions have been drawn against La Liga’s Real Sociedad, who won Group D ahead of Inter Milan and will be confident in their chances after their group-stage displays.
The rest of the draw sees Group C winners, Real Madrid, paired with Group G runner-up, RB Leipzig. Also, Group F winners, Borussia Dortmund, face Group B runner-up, PSV Eindhoven, and Group E runner-up, Lazio, will play Group A winner, Bayern Munich.
The first legs of the last 16 ties will be played next year on either the 13th/14th of February or the 20th/21st of February. The return legs will be played on either the 5th/6th of March or the 12th/13th of March.
The two sides that make it all the way to the final will compete at Wembley Stadium on June 1st for the right to be named this season’s Champions League winner.
