First things first: There aren’t going to be any dogs in the UEFA Champions League’s Round of 16, but there are certainly teams you’d like to see on your docket more than others.
Now that Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur have finished second in their groups, with Manchester United likely to join them, meaning Man City already has a good idea of its possible opponents.
[ MORE: UCL Weds. preview ]
In the Champions League Round of 16, you cannot be drawn with a team from your group or your domestic league. Both rules go out the window from the quarterfinals all the way to the final.
As it stands now, here are the first- and second-seeded teams:
First place: Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona, PSG, Porto, Real Madrid.
Second place: Liverpool, Schalke, Spurs, Atletico Madrid, Roma
Likely to join that top group are Bayern Munich, Man City, and Juventus, which means a rough ride for the second place sides.
And should City get a point or lose and see Lyon drop one or three, it could have its potential field winnowed to four if Juventus handles its business in Switzerland to keep Man Utd out of first.
So fans of Liverpool and Spurs should be hoping to see Ajax surprise Bayern Munich with a win in Amsterdam, and they’d also like to see Juventus slip up at Young Boys and Man Utd win in Valencia.
City fans will hope for a win over Hoffenheim (or Lyon dropping points) and Bayern Munich and Juventus to handle their business and win their groups.
Possible opponents in the Round of 16 with one day of group play to go
Liverpool: Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona, Porto, Bayern Munich, Ajax, Lyon, Real Madrid, Juventus
Tottenham Hotspur: Borussia Dortmund, PSG, Porto, Bayern Munich, Ajax, Lyon, Real Madrid, Juventus
Man City: Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona, PSG, Porto, Schalke, Bayern Munich, Ajax, Real Madrid, Roma, Juventus.
Manchester United: Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona, PSG, Porto, Schalke, Bayern Munich, Ajax, Real Madrid, Roma, Lyon, Shakhtar Donetsk.