Now the real fun starts.
Seeding for the Champions League round of 16 was finalized Wednesday, as AC Milan secured the final available place in the knockout stage by crushing Red Bull Salzburg 4-0 and finishing second in Group E.
Elsewhere, Benfica pipped Paris Saint-Germain to top spot in Group H by beating Maccabi Haifa 6-1, finishing first because they scored more away goals – the seventh of 11 tiebreakers – during the group stage.
The last-16 draw is slated for Nov. 7 at 6 a.m. ET in Nyon, Switzerland. As always, teams from the same domestic league can’t face one another. That restriction also applies to squads from the same group. Napoli and Liverpool, for instance, can’t meet again until the quarterfinals when matchup restrictions are lifted.
Here’s a look at the seeding ahead of Monday’s draw:
Group winners (seeded)
- Napoli (Group A)
- FC Porto (Group B)
- Bayern Munich (Group C)
- Tottenham Hotspur (Group D)
- Chelsea (Group E)
- Real Madrid (Group F)
- Manchester City (Group G)
- Benfica (Group H)
Group runners-up (unseeded)
- Liverpool (Group A)
- Club Brugge (Group B)
- Inter Milan (Group C)
- Eintracht Frankfurt (Group D)
- AC Milan (Group E)
- RB Leipzig (Group F)
- Borussia Dortmund (Group G)
- Paris Saint-Germain (Group H)
The Champions League resumes in February with first-leg matches. The round of 16 concludes in mid-March. Seeded teams will play away in the first-leg games before returning home for the decisive second-leg encounters.
The third-place teams from each group – including the likes of Barcelona and Juventus – will drop into the Europa League knockout playoffs.
Dropping into Europa League
- Ajax (Group A)
- Bayer Leverkusen (Group B)
- Barcelona (Group C)
- Sporting CP (Group D)
- Red Bull Salzburg (Group E)
- Shakhtar Donetsk (Group F)
- Sevilla (Group G)
- Juventus (Group H)
These clubs will be paired with second-place finishers from the eight Europa League groups to make up the knockout round matchups for that competition. That draw is also set to take place Nov. 7, immediately following the Champions League proceedings.