UEFA Champions League Playoffs Draw – LIVEBLOG

This article refers to an earlier version of the Champions League draw. Go to the latest Champions League draw article.

The draw for the 1^st knockout round (Round of 16) of the UEFA Champions League took place at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland, at 12:00 CET Friday.

Keeping with its tradition, Soccerlens brought you the draw LIVE as the 8 matches were drawn.

Full Playoff draw table after the jump.

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2008/09 UEFA Champions League
Round of 16
to be played 24/25 February & 10/11 March

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Chelsea	Chelsea	vs.	Juventus
	Villarreal	vs.	Panathinaikos
	Sporting	vs.	Bayern Munich
	Atletico Madrid	vs.	Porto	FC Porto
Olympique Lyonnais	Lyon	vs.	Barcelona	Barcelona
Real Madrid	Real Madrid	vs.	Liverpool	Liverpool
Arsenal	Arsenal	vs.	Roma	AS Roma
Inter Milan	Inter Milan	vs.	Manchester United	Man Utd

12:22 This concludes our live webcast of the 2008-09 Playoffs draw on Soccerlens. Thank you again for joining us, and we’ll see you all in 2009 for some very exciting UCL action.

12:20 Some pretty fantastic match-ups in this year’s UCL Playoffs draw. The recurring theme of the day seems to be “Italy vs. England”, “Serie A vs. Premier League”. Can the Italians claim back their throne as the best European league, a title which was has been eluding them since the late 90’s? We shall see in February!

12:18 And lastly, INTER MILAN vs. MANCHESTER UNITED!! This, ladies & gentlemen, is undoubtedly the clash of the 2nd round. Serie A champions vs. EPL champions. Can the Nerazzurri finally put the European naysayers to rest?

12:17 Then we have ARSENAL vs. ROMA!! And yet again, Roma picks an English team!! Let’s hope for Spalletti that Emirates Stadium doesn’t turn into another Theatre of Dreams Nightmares.

12:16 Three more to go, most of the English teams left. REAL MADRID VS. LIVERPOOL!! The Merengues are hurting, but can the Reds’ incredible form in Europe continue?

12:15 Atletico Madrid vs. Porto. Iberian peninsula draw, with the “other” Madrid team facing the Portuguese 2007-08 Liga Sagres champions.
Lyon vs. Barcelona!! That’s another very good one! Les Bleus à l’honneur: it’s Thierry Henry vs. Karim Benzema, France’s current striking partnership.

12:13 Two more matches drawn. Villarreal vs. Panathinaikos (good pick for the Spaniards I’d say), and Sporting vs. Bayern Munich. Also good pick for the Germans.

12:12 First match: CHELSEA vs. JUVENTUS!!! Claudio Ranieri facing his old club!!! What a match-up!

12:10 Draw procedure is being explained again. For reference see below. The draw BEGINS!

12:05 The FINAL of this year’s UEFA Champions League will take place in Rome this year. Representing the glorious Italian capital, Roma legend Bruno Conti.

12:02 Thank you for joining us. Pre-draw ceremonies have begun, namely a presentation of the 16 qualified teams, highlights from the group stage.

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Draw Procedure

1. 1^st-ranked teams from the Group Stage will be drawn to play against 2^nd-ranked teams (i.e. the group winners cannot be drawn against each other, and the group runners-up cannot be drawn against each other).
2. The winners and runners-up of the same group cannot be drawn against each other.
3. Clubs from the same country cannot be drawn against each other.
4. The group runners-up shall play their 1st-leg match at home.

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The table below outlines all the possible pairings for the draw. First knockout round is to be played on February 24/25 and March 10/11.

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Possible pairings in Friday’s Round of 16 Playoffs Draw:

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Arsenal	Arsenal	Chelsea	Chelsea	Liverpool	Liverpool	Man Utd	Man Utd
Roma		Panathinaikos		Inter Milan		Inter Milan
Panathinaikos		Barcelona		Sporting		Sporting
Barcelona		Bayern Munich		Villarreal		Atletico Madrid
Bayern Munich		Porto		Lyon		Lyon
Juventus		Juventus		Real Madrid		Real Madrid
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	Atl. Madrid	Barcelona	Barcelona		Villarreal	Real Madrid	Real Madrid
Roma		Chelsea		Roma		Roma
Panathinaikos		Inter Milan		Panathinaikos		Panathinaikos
Manchester United		Lyon		Liverpool		Liverpool
Bayern Munich		Arsenal		Bayern		Manchester United
Porto		.		Porto		Bayern Munich
Juventus		.		Juventus		Porto
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Inter Milan	Inter Milan		Juventus	AS Roma	Roma	FC Porto	Porto
Barcelona		Chelsea		Sporting		Chelsea
Liverpool		Sporting		Atletico Madrid		Inter Milan
Manchester United		Atletico Madrid		Villarreal		Atletico Madrid
Bayern Munich		Villarreal		Lyon		Villarreal
Porto		Lyon		Arsenal		Lyon
.		Arsenal		Real Madrid		Real Madrid
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	Bayern	Olympique Lyonnais	Lyon		Sporting		Panathinaikos
Chelsea		Roma		Roma		Chelsea
Inter Milan		Panathinaikos		Panathinaikos		Sporting
Sporting		Barcelona		Liverpool		Atletico Madrid
Atletico Madrid		Liverpool		Manchester United		Villarreal
Villarreal		Manchester United		Bayern Munich		Lyon
Arsenal		Porto		Juventus		Arsenal
Real Madrid		Juventus		.		Real Madrid
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So what do you want to see out of the Round of 16 draw? Let us know in the comments.