European Draws

The first knockout round draw for the UEFA Champions League will take place later today (Friday 15 December) in Nyon, Switzerland at 11am (UK Time).

Among the eight group winners and eight runners-up who will be in the hat at UEFA headquarters in Nyon, are the three most successful clubs in the history of the competition - nine-time winners Real Madrid, six-time champions AC Milan and a Liverpool side who lifted the European Cup for a fifth occasion in 2005. Holders Barcelona are among the second seeds along with two other teams who have twice been kings of the continent, Internazionale and Porto.

Milan, who finished winners of Group H, cannot be drawn against group runners-up Lille, Italian qualifiers Inter and Roma, or any of the other group winners, meaning there are five possible opponents for the Rossoneri: Barcelona, PSV Eindhoven, Real Madrid, Celtic and FC Porto.

Inter, who finished second in Group B, cannot be drawn against group winners Bayern Munich, Italian qualifiers Milan and Roma, or any of the other group runners-up, meaning there are six possible opponents for the Nerazzurri: Chelsea, Liverpool, Valencia, Lyon, Manchester United and Arsenal.

Roma, who finished second in Group D, cannot be drawn against group winners Valencia, Italian qualifiers Inter and Milan, or any of the other group runners-up, meaning there are six possible opponents for the Giallorossi: Chelsea, Bayern, Liverpool, Lyon, Manchester United and Arsenal.

The round of 16 first legs will be played on 20/21 February 2007, with the return legs to take place on 6/7 March. Inter and Roma will play their first-leg matches at home, while Milan will play away first.

Group Winners:
Chelsea (England), Bayern Munich (Germany), Liverpool (England), Valancia (Spain), Lyon (France), Manchester United (England), Arsenal (England) & AC Milan (Italy).

Group Runners-up:
Barcelona (Spain), Internazionale (Italy), PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands), Roma (Italy), Real Madrid (Spain), Celtic (Scotland), FC Porto (Portugal) & Lille (France).

Draw conditions:
The draw respects the following principles:
- Clubs from the same country must not be drawn against each other.
- The winners and runners-up of the same group must not be drawn against each other.
- Group winners must not be drawn against each other.
- Group runners-up must not be drawn against each other.
- All group runners-up will play their first-leg matches at home.


The draws for the next two rounds of the UEFA Cup will also take place on Friday from 12pm (UK Time).

Among the 32 teams who will be in the hat at UEFA headquarters in Nyon for the Round of 32 and Round of 16 draws are current holders Sevilla, eight third-placed Champions League teams and Italian qualifiers Livorno and Parma.

Parma, who finished winners of Group D, can only be drawn against teams that finished third. They cannot be drawn against third-placed Lens or Italian qualifiers Livorno, meaning there are seven possible opponents: Bayer Leverkusen, Braga, Lens, Feyenoord, Zulte Waregem, Hapoel Tel-Aviv and Fenerbahce.

Livorno, who finished third in Group A, can only be drawn against teams that finished top. They cannot be drawn against group winners Rangers or Italian qualifiers Parma, meaning there are six possible opponents: Tottenham Hotspur, AZ Alkmaar, Blackburn Rovers, Espanyol, Panathinaikos and Newcastle United.

The Round of 32 first legs will be played on 14 February 2007, with the return legs to take place on 22 February. Parma will play the first leg away while Livorno have to play at home first.

Group Winners:
Rangers (Scotland), Tottenham Hotspur (England), AZ Alkmaar (Netherlands), Parma (Italy), Blackburn Rovers (England), Espanyol (Spain), Panathinaikos (Greece) & Newcastle United (England).

Group Runners-up:
Maccabi Haifa (Israel), Dinamo Bucharest (Romania), Sevilla (Spain), Osasuna (Spain), Nancy (France), Ajax (Netherlands), Paris St Germain (France) & Celta Vigo (Spain).

Third-placed Teams:
Livorno (Italy), Bayer Leverkusen (Germany), Braga (Portugal), Lens (France), Feyenoord (Netherlands), Zulte Waregem (Belgium), Hapoel Tel-Aviv (Israel) & Fenerbahce (Turkey).

Champions League Teams:
Werder Bremen (Germany), Spartak Moscow (Russia), Bordeaux (France), Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine), Steaua Bucharest (Romania), Benfica (Portugal), CSKA Moscow (Russia) & AEK Athens (Greece).

Draw Conditions:
The draw respects the following principles:
- Clubs from the same country cannot be drawn against each other.
- Group winners must be drawn against one of the third-ranked teams from another group.
- Group runners-up must be drawn against one of the eight clubs joining the competition from the UEFA Champions League.
- Group winners and runners-ups will play their second-leg matches at home.