Who could Aston Villa face in the Champions League Last 16 draw?
ASTON VILLA will learn who they will face in the round of 16 of the Champions League and how they can get to the final THIS WEEK.
Under the new league phase structure, the top eight teams avoided a two-leg play-off match and went straight to the round of 16.
Teams placed ninth through twenty-four were compelled to participate in a play-off stage, where games were played over the previous two weeks, in order to secure the eight unseeded teams in the round of 16.
After a 4-2 victory over Celtic on the penultimate matchday of last month, Unai Emery’s team finished in the top eight and advanced to the round of 16 as a seeded side.
Villa accumulated 16 points with the result against Celtic being there fifth win in the league phase to sneak into the final seeded spot.
Who could Aston Villa face in the Champions League Last 16 draw?
The play-off ties’ 9th and 10th slot winners or the 23rd and 24th slot winners were assigned to Villa because of their eight-place league performance.
Those were Club Brugge, Atalanta, Sporting or Borussia Dortmund.
After a 3-0 first-leg victory against Sporting, last year’s finalists Dortmund were virtually guaranteed to advance to the round of 16 and did so with a stalemate in the second leg.
While Brugge defeated Atalanta 3-1 in their second leg, winning 5-2 overall with an early brace from Chemsdine Talbi proving decisive in match momentum.
Villa’s opponent, either Dortmund or Club Brugge, will be determined by the draw in the round of 16 on Friday, February 21.
The first leg of the last-16 matchups will take place on either March 4 or March 5, while the subsequent matches will follow a week later.
Villa Park will host the second match, while Villa will travel as seeds for the first leg.