- Arsenal, Liverpool, and Aston Villa are on course for a potential all-English tie
- On the other side of the draw, all three Bundesliga sides have been drawn
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Champions League fans have vented their frustrations on social media after Friday’s draw placed Liverpool, Arsenal, and Aston Villa all on the same side of the competition’s round-of-16 draw.
Three of the four teams the Premier League fielded in Europe’s top flight survived the league phase, with 2023 winners Manchester City faltering at the play-off hurdle against serial winners Real Madrid this week.
The draw at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland confirmed the three English teams’ opponents for the first of the knockout stages, with Liverpool facing off with Paris Saint-Germain in the mouthwatering pick of the round.
Aston Villa will play Club Brugge for their round-of-16 tie for the second time this season, after losing to the Belgian side in November when they met in the league phase.
And Arsenal will face off with PSV Eindhoven for the first time since their meeting in the Europa League in 2022, which saw Mikel Arteta’s side win 1-0 at home and lose 2-0 on the road to the Dutch club.
But supporters on social media were unhappy with the outcome of the draw, with some speculating if there had been moves behind the scenes to group the English teams together – while keeping competition big beasts like Barcelona and Real Madrid apart.
English fans were aggrieved to find out that all of the Premier League teams were on the same side of the draw
Supporters vented their fury on social media with some questioning whether teams had been purposefully kept apart
‘There’s no need for matches between the same country in the Champions League,’ one user posted.
‘All three English teams in the same half of the #UCLdraw is quite annoying,’ another wrote. ‘Seeing a Madrid derby, Bayern v Leverkusen and PSG v Liverpool in the last 16 is quite something though!
‘The new format has at least given us some great matches every gameweek.’
A third suggested: ‘UEFA, purely by chance, manage to get all three English teams in the same half and keep Barca and Real apart.
‘Atletico – forget it. If Real can’t beat you fair and square, there’ll be a referee or VAR along to screw you.’
Real Madrid will play Atletico Madrid in the final tie of the English half, with the possibility of an all-English quarter-final and semi-final.
On the other half of the draw, Barcelona will play Benefica in a comparatively straightforward route for the Catalan giants, and Feyenoord will play Inter Milan.
German fans may feel similarly aggrieved, with the remaining German teams on that half of the draw – and even an all-German clash when Bayern Munich plays Bayer Leverkusen.
The remaining Bundesliga side, Borussia Dortmund, will face off with Lille.
