Juventus are through to the last 16 of the 2021/22 Champions League, with fans now eagerly awaiting who the club’s next opponent will be.
This is everything you need to know about the last 16 draw and which clubs are available to face…
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Juventus wouldn’t have been expecting to finish top of Group H after losing heavily to Chelsea on matchday five. But when the Premier League side dropped points in Russia against Zenit St Petersburg on matchday six, it meant that Juve’s laboured 1-0 win over Malmo was enough.
Massimiliano Allegri’s side actually took 15 points in total, with their only loss that game against Chelsea – 4-0 at Stamford Bridge. They beat both Malmo and Zenit home and away, although the fewest goals scored among the group winners aside from Lille might be slightly alarming.
The draw splits group winners and runners-up into seeds and non-seeds. At this stage all group winners will be kept apart, while no club be drawn with another from the same country. Juve also cannot be paired with Chelsea by virtue of qualifying from the same group.
With Inter also obviously off the table, Juve will be randomly drawn against any of the other group runners-up available to them. That means they will be facing one of PSG, Atletico Madrid, Sporting CP, Benfica or Red Bull Salzburg. They could also face Villarreal but not Atalanta, depending on which club makes it through to claim the final place.
Sporting, Benfica or Salzburg would be the most favourable options for now, but PSG and Atletico Madrid are definitely ones to avoid at this stage.
UEFA will make the draw for the Champions League last 16 on Monday 13 December 2021. It will start from 11am in the UK (12pm CET) and will be live streamed on UEFA’s website and YouTube channel.
Heading into 2022, last 16 first leg ties will be split across consecutive weeks on either 15/16 February or 22/23 February. The return legs will follow on 8/9 March or 15/16 March.
As group winners, Juve will have the advantage of playing the second leg at the Allianz Stadium.
This is the first season in which the away goals rule has been scrapped, so extra-time is guaranteed if the aggregate score is level at the end of the second leg.
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