Mixed Reactions to Champions League Knockouts Draw

The group stage of the Champions League is done and dusted. Next up: the knockouts.

The 16 remaining teams all ​learned their fate in Monday’s draw, and there are certainly some mouthwatering ties on offer.

The excitement is already building across Europe, so let’s take a look at how fans reacted to their side’s draw.

Real Madrid vs Manchester City

Pep Guardiola will have to face the Santiago Bernabéu crowd once more when his ​Manchester City side come face to face with ​Real Madrid.

The Citizens have a fortunate history of favourable draws, but they weren’t so lucky this time around. Real will always be one of the pre-tournament favourites, but City fans still felt confident they had enough to get through.

However, Real supporters were just as confident. On their day, Los Blancos can dispatch anyone and fans clearly feel that this could be their day too.

Atlético Madrid vs Liverpool

Defending champions ​Liverpool will return to the Wanda Metropolitano – the stadium in which they were crowned European champions just months ago – when they face Diego Simeone’s ​Atlético Madrid.

Given their recent struggles, Atlético weren’t exactly best pleased with the result.​

As for Liverpool, they seemed somewhat happy with the draw, although there was a touch of concern from some fans who recognised Atlético’s strength when their backs are against the wall.

Chelsea vs Bayern Munich

After struggling in the group stage, Chelsea’s European adventure is only set to get harder as the Blues are set to come up against ​Bayern Munich.

Chelsea come into this one as huge underdogs, but that has not stopped them in the past. Did someone say 2012?​

Chelsea might be worried, but Bayern certainly do not seem to be. The Bundesliga champions have scored a lot of goals this season, and the Blues’ inconsistent defence looks to be in for a real test.

Tottenham vs RB Leipzig

José Mourinho is back in the Champions League knockout stages, and his first test comes in the shape of the Bundesliga’s RB Leipzig.

There are no easy draws at this stage of the competition, but many ​Spurs fans seem to feel as though this was about as good as it could have been for their club.

Having said that, Leipzig fans looked to be saying the same thing, with many confident that they have been handed a relatively easy tie against an inconsistent Spurs side.

Napoli vs Barcelona

The last two teams out of the hat were ​Napoli and ​Barcelona, who will face off in the final tie of the round of 16.

It has been a rough season for Napoli, and many fans fear that it could be about to get worse real soon.

Napoli may have been worried, but Barcelona definitely were not. La Blaugrana have been in good form of late, and they come into this one as heavy favourites – as long as they don’t bottle a lead to Kostas Manolas again.​​

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