UEFA Champions League 2012/2013 Last-16 Draw ~ Coverage

[Escorpiius]

The Route to Wembley Starts with luck on December 20: The first footstep forward to Last 16 and hopefully, to Wembley for 2 out of these 16 strong teams.

Meanwhile, you can leave out your thoughts on the draw and the Champions League in general.

The biggest shocker surprise of this Group Stage has been the elimination of clubs financed by sugar-daddies. Chelsea became the first reigning UCL Champion to leave at group stage while City gave the worst performance from an English side ever. Also, Zenit bow down in front of the 2 financially depleted sides of Malaga and Milan. All irony!

The 16 teams are divided into 2 pots that's been determined by their ranking in Group Stage. All Group winners; are automatically into Pot No.1 while Group runners-up are in Pot 2. For those who don't know the rules: Clubs from same country cannot be pitted against each other in 1/8 finals and same goes for teams who were in same group. Here are the 16 clubs who made it till here:

16 Teams

Pot 1

Pot 2

Escorp's personal thoughts:

- I'd say Barcelona, Dortmund and Bayern are equal favorites to lift the trophy. Bayern have a terrifying squad and are squashing the Bundesliga. Same for Barcelona with a rampant Messi. And Dortmund has been the most impressive team on the field with their teamplay right now in whole CL (yes, better than Barcelona for now due to much solid defence).

- I'd bracket Madrid, United & Juventus as first-rate challengers to the above trio and to possibly clinch it. Madrid are still have the quest for La Decima as booster in this CL and as in this last 3 years, they do still possess the necessary squad to grab it. They do need to hit the right form physically and mentally (perhaps). United have weak spots; especially defensively but their never-say-die attitude and their will for revenge after last year's setback will delete their complacency in them and turn them (hopefully) into strong challengers. Juventus have been highly impressive to end up first after Norsjaelland shock result. They have shown interesting attitude and play for their return and I think, they'll be dangerous as the campaign will progress.

- Milan, Arsenal & Porto have enormous CL culture and experience. Not sure if that can result in grabbing the trophy in May but it do state that we should always count on these teams.

- Shakhtar, Valencia and Malaga are tricky opponents; with a definite style & squad; and can prove to be surprise packages.

- Shalke and Paris have their chances due to finishing first in their groups but both need some polishing yet for CL stages.

- I don't want to offend Celtic or Galatasaray fans but they look like the fillers right now. Both have fiery stadium support though, so any Pot 1 team can have a tricky hellish trip for the 1st Leg.

- The importance of the the draw can perhaps be seen with the Group Stage. All Pot 1 (except Chelsea) qualify though many finished surprise-second. And remaining teams who qualified were balanced from Group Stage draw; as 3 teams from each other Pots got through.

All matches listed are obviously the Return Leg (2nd Leg) fixtures. Inverse it for the 1st Leg.

Match: FC Schalke 04 (GER) v/s Galatasaray AS (TUR)
Home-Venue: Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Away-Venue: Türk Telekom Arena in Istanbul, Turkey
Date: 20 Feb. 2013 (GAL v SHA) & 12 Mar. 2013 (SHA v GAL)

Match: Juventus (ITA) v/s Celtic FC (SCO)
Home-Venue: Juventus Stadium in Turin, Italy
Away-Venue: Celtic Park in Glasgow, Scotland
Date: 12 Feb. 2013 (CEL v JUV) & 6 Mar. 2013 (JUV v CEL)

Match: FC Bayern München (GER) v/s Arsenal FC (ENG)
Home-Venue: Allianz Arena [Fußball Arena München] in Munich, Germany
Away-Venue: Emirates Stadium in North London, England
Date: 19 Feb. 2013 (ARS v BAY) & 13 Mar. 2013 (BAY v ARS)

Match: Borussia Dortmund (GER) v/s FC Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
Home-Venue: Westfalenstadion [Signal Iduna Park Stadium] in Dortmund, Germany
Away-Venue: Donbass Arena in Donetsk, Ukraine
Date: 13 Feb. 2013 (DON v BVB) & 5 Mar. 2013 (DON v BVB)

Match: FC Barcelona (ESP) v/s AC Milan (ITA)
Home-Venue: L'Estadi Camp Nou in Barcelona, Spain/Catalunya
Away-Venue: Stadio Giuseppe Meazza [San Siro]in Milan, Italy
Date: 20 Feb. 2013 (MIL v BAR) & 12 Mar. 2013 (BAR v MIL)

Match: Manchester United FC (ENG) v/s Real Madrid CF (ESP)
Home-Venue: Old Trafford in Greater Manchester, England
Away-Venue: Estadio Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid, Spain
Date: 13 Feb. 2013 (RM v MU) & 5 Mar. 2013 (MU v RM)

Match: Paris Saint-Germain FC (FRA) v/s Valencia CF (ESP)
Home-Venue: Parc des Princes in Paris, France
Away-Venue: Mestalla Stadium in Valencia, Spain
Date: 12 Feb. 2013 (VAL v PSG) & 6 Mar. 2013 (PSG v VAL)

Match: Málaga CF (ESP) v/s FC Porto (POR)
Home-Venue: Estádio do Dragão in Porto, Portugal
Away-Venue: Estadio La Rosaleda in Málaga, Spain
Date: 19 Feb. 2013 (POR v MAL) & 13 Mar. 2013 (MAL v POR)

For Europa League fixtures: Click

[★-Punk-]

to everyone playing the champions have been playing horrible .... hopefully we get some good games ....i hope barca gets beat .. im sick of them lo

[badoera]

to everyone playing the champions have been playing horrible .... hopefully we get some good games ....i hope barca gets beat .. im sick of them lo

aww!! and I like Barca! haha

I personally think Borrusia Dortmund will do great.. and Shaktar !

My two fave clubs are Juventus and ofcourse Barcelona tho xD

[Hus]

to everyone playing the champions have been playing horrible .... hopefully we get some good games ....i hope barca gets beat .. im sick of them lo

dont even dream about it , barca is the next champion

[gameove]

im american so soccer dont flaot my boat but a each they own

[★-Punk-]

haha barca next champ ..... they're always left on the road ... my fav team its liverpool lol ... so im rutting for juventus & madrid im a madrid guy ...... after tomorrow .. im goinf to the bookies & make my parley's .... anyone here bets ?

[joodaa]

haha barca next champ ..... they're always left on the road ... my fav team its liverpool lol ... so im rutting for juventus & madrid im a madrid guy ...... after tomorrow .. im goinf to the bookies & make my parley's .... anyone here bets ?

Really Liverpool :P and Barca will win it, bet on that

[★-Punk-]

Really Liverpool :P and Barca will win it, bet on that

:y yes really hail liverpool .......... either juventus or psg next champs believe it

christiano > messi

[Avijoy]

Borussia dortmund or bayern munich

[Yusuke Urameshi]

Hopefully Madrid wins. Imma Ronaldo fanboy . I just hope Barcelona fails miserably, although not likely.

[Yusuke Urameshi]

:y yes really hail liverpool .......... either juventus or psg next champs believe it

christiano > messi

Can't even spell his name correctly. It's Cristiano. lolol

[Escorpiius]

to everyone playing the champions have been playing horrible .... hopefully we get some good games ....i hope barca gets beat .. im sick of them lo

Group Stages were always disappointing in gameplay level. But it's importance lies that if underestimated, it may be costly.
As from KO Stages, the matches always get on higher level, intensity and suspense. Personally, I'm confident of having many great games as from February.

[★-Punk-]

Can't even spell his name correctly. It's Cristiano. lolol

lol whooops hail LORD RONALDO

[★-Punk-]

Group Stages were always disappointing in gameplay level. But it's importance lies that if underestimated, it may be costly.
As from KO Stages, the matches always get on higher level, intensity and suspense. Personally, I'm confident of having many great games as from February.

agree ..... they always turn up good ...... & we have big names

[repulse]

I'll be pissed if Madrid gets Juventus. Madrid have a nice little history of choking against Juventus in the Champions League....

[joodaa]

:y yes really hail liverpool .......... either juventus or psg next champs believe it

christiano > messi

I agree with you since I don't believe messi would do nearly as well without xavi and iniesta, where as ronaldo has proved to do well wherever he goes. And it's all hail arsenal

[~Shadowhunter Princess~]

@ thread owner: are you going to include the Europa League as well? Please do becoz the team I support (Liverpool) doesn't play Champions League unfortunately.

[-God of War-]

Wow...you guys really think Barcelona will win this time?
I don't think so. Now, I think Barcelona's time of being champions is ending. Barcelona and R.Madrid can't win this time.

If we would have the kumi system back, I would do a cool bet.

[Escorpiius]

I'll be pissed if Madrid gets Juventus. Madrid have a nice little history of choking against Juventus in the Champions League....

Madrid's draw will need a lot of luck. They can't get Barcelona, Malaga and Dortmund by UEFA rule and most RM fans don't want Juve or Bayern due to previous history. That leaves United (which as a fan, I'd daringly like), Shalke and PSG.

Seriously, if Madrid draws Shalke, they should put candles in the church pronto.

@ thread owner: are you going to include the Europa League as well? Please do becoz the team I support (Liverpool) doesn't play Champions League unfortunately.

When I did the Group Stage Draw Coverage, Mikey helped me with all the Europa news and I just linked it from my main post. Would be sweet if someone helped me with it again. Still, despite I'm not much into Europa but if I follow the draw, I'll do an update.

Wow...you guys really think Barcelona will win this time?
I don't think so. Now, I think Barcelona's time of being champions is ending. Barcelona and R.Madrid can't win this time.

If we would have the kumi system back, I would do a cool bet.

I miss Kumi

[-God of War-]

20 mins left and we start! Can't wait for it!

[Escorpiius]

Watching all goals of this year's CL.

My Top 3 would be Oscar stunner against Juve and Benzema & Mexes's bicycle kicks respectively.
Mexes's goal would really be tough to top off; even if all matches' level will now increase.

[Michael92]

*Grabs Popcorn*

Prediction:

Man U - Real

Milan - PSG

Juventus - Arsenal.

The rest is up to the Gods, lol.

[ReLax -]

Milan V Barca

Madrid V United was set up. Everyone knew it was going to happen.

[Michael92]

I predicted right O__o What did I tell you Escorp!!!! :D

[Escorpiius]

Ronaldo returning to Old Trafford is way too poetic.

Okay, well, 3 great matches in perspective: Bayern/Arsenal, Barca/Milan, United/Madrid