The Champions League can have a new format this year by courtesy of a remodeled group stage, but so far it has provided a lot of emotion.
The addition of a play-off round before the last 16 has also seen some big names eliminated from the competition at an early point.
Man City, the winners of 2023, were sent by the competition when the owners of Real Madrid concluded a 6-3 dominant victory added by beating the Pep Guardiola 3-1 team in the second leg of their play-off on Wednesday on Wednesday .
The whites joined Paris Saint-Germain, Club Brugge, Feyenoord, PSV, Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and Benfica in the reserve of their place in the last 16 through victories in the play-off.
Celta de Brendan Rodgers retired agonizing after a last goal from Bayern on Tuesday, with Brest, AC Milan, Atalanta, Juventus, Lisbon Sporting and Monaco also being short in their respective ties.
Liverpool, Arsenal and Aston Villa will return to action in the last 16, and their players avoided the play-offs ending in the first eight of the League phase.
The Champions League can have a new format this year by courtesy of a remodeled group stage, but has still provided a lot of emotion so far
Real Madrid obtained its place in the last raffle with a added 6-3 victory over Man City
Liverpool finished the top of the League phase and will face PSG or Benfica in the 16 round
The ties for the 16 round will be played during the weeks of March 4 and March 5 with the return legs that take place on March 11 and March 12.
The raffle to confirm the route of each team towards the final will take place on Friday, February 21, which is where things are complicated a bit.
UEFA states that four bowls will be prepared for this raffle, with two for each side of the support.
Each bowl contains two balls that represent the winners of the 16 games of a step on the relevant side of the support.
This means that the first silver bowl will contain marked paper slips 'winners R16 1' and 'winners R16 2' and the second silver will have papers marked with 'winners R16 3' and 'winners R16 4'.
The first bowl on the blue side will contain paper slips 'winners R16 5' and 'winners R16 6' and, finally, 'winners R16 7' and 'winners R16 8' in the second bowl on the blue side.
The draw begins by dragging and drawing the balls placed in the first bowl of the silver side of the support.
The first ball extracted from this bowl indicates the team that will play the first game of the quarterfinals at home, and the second ball the team that will play the leg back at home.
Arsenal knows that they will undergo a PSV or Feyenoord in the 16 round
Harry Kane will hope to take Bayern Munich to the glory of the Champions League at home, and the final is celebrated in Munich on May 31
The draw to confirm the complete route to the final will take place at the UEFA headquarters on Friday
The procedure is repeated with the remaining bowls to complete the combinations of quarterfinals.
A similar process will be carried out for the semifinal raffle with two bowls: one for silver support and one for blue.
If all that sounds too confusing to map, an illustration of the potential route of each team can be seen above.
It is also important to remember that teams of the National League may face in the 16 round, which had not always been the case.
They can also be attracted against teams that faced each other previously in the phase of the League.
As the teams that ended first and second in the phase of the League, Liverpool and Barcelona obtained the best planting and will face one of the lowest sides that the play-offs achieved.
The Arne Slot side or the Catalan giants will sit against PSG or Benfica in Friday's draw, after the couple arrived through their play-off matches.
Arsenal and Inter Milan will sit against PSV or Feyenoord in the last 16, while Aston Villa and Lille will play one of the Brugge or Borussia Dortmund club.
Real Madrid's triumph against Man City has established the perspective of a Madrid derby against Atlético, but Carlo Ancelotti's side could also be drawn against Bayer Leverkusen.
The other potential opponent of Atlético de Bayer Leverkusen and Atlético de Madrid is Bayern Munich, ensuring that the parties are attracted to a European heavyweight on Friday.