After the group stage is out of the way, the prospect of a knockout football in the Champions League is emerging after the last draw on Monday.
As always, there were a number of noticeable draws, including a tough clash between Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain and difficult challenges for Premier League giants Chelsea and Liverpool against Atletico Madrid and RB Leipzig.
But who will be happiest with the result of the draw? And who will be a little concerned about the possible progression to the final stages in the spring?
goal Runs through the winners and losers of the draw on Monday.
MORE: See the full Champions League draw here
Champions League winners and losers draw
Winner: Cristiano Ronaldo
As the only team in the draw that doesn’t play in one of the top five in the European league, whoever drew Porto has probably always been pretty happy with themselves.
That honor went to Juventus, which meant a return to his homeland for Cristiano Ronaldo.
It’s been 11 years since the former Sporting CP winger last played at Porto when his staggering 40 yards helped send Manchester United to the Champions League semi-finals at the expense of their Portuguese opponents.
Although this season didn’t end in European glory for the Red Devils, Ronaldo has won the competition five times and was brought to Turin to end the Bianconeri’s 25-year wait to get their hands on the trophy.
He could hardly have done more in his first two seasons with Juve but is the only player to have scored in six knockout games for them since 2019 and will be hoping for more help from his teammates this time around.
Ronaldo started the current season in brilliant form, scoring 17 goals in as many games, including a double against Barcelona at Camp Nou on Tuesday. He should be able to improve his account against Porto despite the fact that the underdogs have been clean in each of their last five European outings.
Loser: Chelsea
Of all the teams in the unset half of the draw, Atletico Madrid have been viewed by many as the team to avoid and as such, Frank Lampard and Chelsea may prove unfortunate to land the rojiblancos at this stage of the competition.
Diego Simeone’s side are notoriously tough to overtake in bipeds and took a famous win over defending champions Liverpool in competition last season.
Atleti has been so in shape this season that if they won their two league games in hand they would be six points clear at the top of the league, with their only losses this season being to Bayern Munich and Real Madrid .
And although Chelsea have crossed their group in impressive form, Luis Suarez, Joao Felix and the returning Diego Costa will present a testing challenge for Lampard’s young side.
Winner: Pep Guardiola
After signing a two-year contract extension with Manchester City, Pep Guardiola has three more shots to end the club’s wait for Champions League success.
This time around he would have been hoping for the easiest possible draw to start the knockout round and with Borussia Mönchengladbach, perhaps the weakest of the seven teams City could possibly have worked with, the Catalan is likely to be pretty happy with the result.
The Bundesliga team surprisingly came through a difficult Champions League group that included Real Madrid and Inter, despite not defeating either team in four games and qualifying thanks to heavy wins against Shakhtar Donetsk.
Guardiola has broken up against inferior teams in Europe like Monaco, Tottenham and Lyon during his time at City, but his team will be overwhelming favorites against a team currently eighth in Germany’s top division.
Loser: Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi has cut a miserable figure at Camp Nou for the past six months and Monday’s draw is unlikely to have changed his mood.
Barcelona gave up their place among the top seeds with a dismal loss in their last home group game against Juventus and their reward is a difficult game against French champions Paris Saint-Germain.
PSG have generally underperformed in Europe but will have gained confidence by reaching the final for the first time last year before losing to Bayern Munich.
Neymar may have problems facing his old side if the ankle injury he sustained on Sunday turns out to be severe, but Thomas Tuchel’s side will still believe they have more quality to make it through to the quarter-finals to reach.
It’s now six years since Messi last won the Champions League and his best chance to win this season could be negotiating a move to one of Barca’s rivals in January!
Winner: Real Madrid
After three wins in a great week for Zinedine Zidane’s side, everything seems to be getting underway at Real Madrid.
After beating Gladbach on the sixth match day, they qualified for the knockout round. The results elsewhere meant that they also reached the top of their group.
They have two consecutive league victories against Sevilla and then against Atletico Madrid under control again in the Spanish title race.
For the past 16 years, they have teamed up with Atalanta, who was one of last season’s Champions League surprise packages and made it to the quarter-finals.
But there is tension between coach Gian Piero Gasperini and some of his players, which threatens to derail the Serie A club’s campaign.
Zidane has a remarkable record in Europe, winning three Champions League games in just four attempts. However, in the competition in which they failed to win their last five knockout games on Spanish soil, he has to correct a bad home form.
Loser: Jürgen Klopp
Injuries have stretched Liverpool’s squad this season and if Jurgen Klopp was hoping for an easier route to the quarter-finals in Europe he didn’t get it.
RB Leipzig is a strong opponent. Julian Nagelsmann’s team is at the center of a fierce Bundesliga title race that has beaten through a tricky Champions League group with PSG and Manchester United.
Leipzig showed their fearlessness and quality in competition last season when they beat Tottenham and Atletico Madrid on their way to the semi-finals.
Nagelsmaan previously played against Klopp’s Liverpool in Europe when his side from Hoffenheim were clearly beaten in the 2017 qualifying rounds, but his exciting young side from Leipzig will offer a much tougher test for the Reds this time around.
