"It means all six of the Premier League teams who entered this year's competition will compete in the last-16, with the chance that two could be paired together for next month's match-ups. The revamped format - which was introduced last season - means instead of a random draw, teams will be paired based on their finish in the league phase."
"Newcastle are one of the teams in the most difficult positions, given their last-16 opponents will be one of Chelsea or Barcelona. The Magpies have won once away at Chelsea since 2012, meaning they'd likely have to perform well in the first leg to stand a chance of going through."
"For Liverpool, and by extension Spurs, they find themselves in a similarly tricky spot, given their list of opponents are one of: Atletico, Galatasary or Juventus. Arne Slot's side have already lost to Galatasaray this term, and while they did beat Atletico in the league phase, the Spanish outfit did knock Liverpool out at this stage during the 2019/20 season."
Four teams have secured Champions League last-16 qualification: Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Bodo/Glimt, and Newcastle United. This ensures all six Premier League entrants will compete in the knockout stage. The revamped format uses league phase finishing positions to determine pairings instead of random draws. Newcastle faces a challenging draw, potentially meeting Chelsea or Barcelona, teams they've struggled against recently. Liverpool and Tottenham encounter similarly difficult opponents including Atletico Madrid, Galatasaray, or Juventus. Arsenal could face Bayern Munich against Bayer Leverkusen or Borussia Dortmund/Atalanta. The new pairing system creates predetermined matchups based on final standings rather than chance.
Read at Express.co.uk
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