We simulated the Champions League draw to see who Chelsea could get in the last-16 stage as the Blues look to lift the trophy for the second time in their history
Teams around Europe are waiting to discover their fate, as the Champions League round of 16 draw takes place on Monday.
Frank Lampard, the Chelsea players, and fans will be on alert as they wait to find out who they will be playing when this season’s competition resumes in February.
The Blues remain the only London team to have won the Champions League – that success coming back in 2012 when they beat Bayern Munich in their own stadium on penalties.
However, Lampard’s side were knocked out by the Bundesliga giants at last-16 stage last season, so will be keen to improve on that this time around.
Luckily for the west London outfit, they can’t draw Bayern just yet as the reigning champions comfortably topped their group which included Atletico Madrid and Red Bull Salzburg.
Real Madrid, who left it late to seal their place in the last-16, are another team the Blues will avoid in the last-16 as the 13-time Champions League winners also topped their group.
We used a knockout stage simulator to determine who Chelsea, as well as Liverpool and Manchester City, might draw, and the results were fascinating.
With the Blues finishing top of their group, they were unable to draw Sevilla as well as any team from the same country, so they avoided Man City and Liverpool.
However, they were pitted against European heavyweights Barcelona.
Whether that would be a nightmare scenario for the Blues remains to be seen as Ronald Koeman’s side have struggled in La Liga this season and missed out on topping their group after losing 3-0 at home to Juventus on Tuesday evening.
Games between Chelsea and Barcelona down the years have always been hotly contested and at times, dramatic.
Thanks to Fernandes Torres the Blues overcame Barca en route to reaching the final in 2012 as they gained a measure of revenge for the controversial semi-final clash three years earlier.
Elsewhere, the simulated draw has been rather kind to Liverpool and Man City who would be expected to overcome FC Porto and Sevilla respectively over two legs.
Simulated Champions League round of 16 draw in full:
RB Leipzig vs Real Madrid
Barcelona vs Chelsea
Atletico Madrid vs PSG
Atalanta vs Borussia Dortmund
Porto vs Liverpool
Lazio vs Bayern Munich
Sevilla vs Manchester City
Borussia Monchengladbach vs Juventus
*Ties to be played on 16/17/23/24 February, with the second legs on 9/10/16/17 March.