Berlin (dpa) – After the happy entry into the second round of the Champions League, Borussia Mönchengladbach now threatens a hammer opponent, as does RB Leipzig.
At the draw on Monday in Nyon, Switzerland (12 noon), the two Bundesliga clubs will definitely face one of the group winners. That means: Possible opponents of the two runners-up could be Italy’s record champions Juventus Turin with record scorer Cristiano Ronaldo, Liverpool FC with coach Jürgen Klopp or Chelsea FC with the Germans Kai Havertz, Timo Werner and Antonio Rüdiger.
A renewed meeting with the group winners Paris Saint-Germain for Leipzig or Real Madrid for the Gladbacher is excluded. National duels are not yet possible in this knockout round. This reduces the search for opponents in the round of 16 for both teams to just five opponents. In addition to Liverpool, Chelsea and Juve, these are Manchester City as well as Real Madrid for Leipzig and Paris Saint-Germain for Mönchengladbach.
In any case, both Bundesliga clubs will play against opponents from Europe’s football elite first on 16./17. or 23./24. February have home games and then on the opponent’s place on 9/10. or 16./17. March to compete.
In contrast, the two sovereign German group winners FC Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund will be drawn to the only seemingly easier opponents from pot two in the round of 16. Since the runners-up in the group includes FC Barcelona, which was ailing in the preliminary round, a pairing with the team of superstar Lionel Messi is conceivable for both teams. An early meeting of the defending champion Bayern with the Europa League winner FC Sevilla is one of the options.
The teams in the second round of the premier class:
Group winners (pot 1): FC Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Liverpool FC, Chelsea FC, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus Turin, Paris Saint-Germain Second group (pot 2): Atlético Madrid, Borussia Mönchengladbach, FC Porto, Atalanta Bergamo, FC Sevilla, Lazio Rome, FC Barcelona, RB Leipzig
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