Of the final 16 teams that made it out of the group stage in the 2013-2014 Champions League and into the knockout round, we have 4 teams from England (Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City), 4 from Germany (Bayern Munich, Dortmund, Schalke, Leverkusen), 3 teams from Spain (Real Madrid, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid), and 1 from France (PSG), 1 from Turkey (Galatasaray), 1 from Greece (Olympiacos), 1 from Russia (Zenit) and 1 from Italy (AC Milan).
The draw will be held on December 16, and as always, teams from the same country and from the same group won’t be able to be drawn against each other, while splitting the two groups between first and second place qualifiers.
Arsenal
An interesting twist left Arsenal second in the group of death and almost out of the competition. They finished second behind Dortmund yet ahead of Napoli and Marseille to carry on through. Three players – Olivier Giroud, Aaron Ramsey and Theo Walcott each scored twice to lead the team that’s on top of the English Premier League.
Atletico Madrid
Finished first, clinching the top spot weeks in advance against Zenit, Porto and Austria Wien. Diego Costa, with 4 goals, was the team’s top scorer. Atletico are currently second place in the La Liga, just because of goal difference.
Barcelona
Finished first in a group that included AC Milan, Ajax and Celtic, not having too much trouble. Lionel Messi, obviously, even without playing in the final matches, led the team scoring six goals. They are currently joint leaders in the La Liga.
Bayern Munich
The European champions felt quite comfortable in a group that included Manchester City, Viktoria Plzen and CSKA Moscow, finishing first with 15 points. Four players – Mario Gotze, Franck Ribery, Arjen Robben and Thomas Muller each scored 3 goals for them. They’re comfortable leading the Bundesliga as well at the moment.
Borussia Dortmund
Dortmund made it out alive, barely, from the group of death, eventually finishing first ahead of Arsenal, Napoli and Marseille. They were led by non other than Robert Lewandowski, scoring 4 goals along the way. They’re currently third in the Bundesliga.
Chelsea FC
AN unimpressive qualifying campaign that included two losses in a group that included Schalke, Basel and Steaua didn’t stop Chelsea from finishing first in the group, led by two players with three goals each – Ramires, Fernando Torres and Samuel Eto’o. They’re currently 3rd in the Premier League.
Galatasaray
The Turkish champions who currently find themselves in 4th place in Turkey finished second behind Real Madrid and ahead of Juventus and FC Copenhagen to qualify into the next round. Their top scorer was Umut Bulut, scoring 3 goals.
Leverkusen
The German side finished second behind Manchester United and ahead of Shakhtar and Real Sociedad. Simon Rolfes with 3 goals in six matches was the team’s top scorer at this stage. They’re currently second in the Bundesliga.
Manchester City
For the first time ever, Manchester City are in the next stage, finishing second to Bayern Munich (with the same number of points) and ahead of CSKA Moscow and Viktoria Plzen. Sergio Aguero led the team in scoring with six goals. They’re currently 4th in the Premier League.
Manchester United
It hasn’t been a great season for Manchester United at home, where they are only 9th, but they did manage to finish first, going undefeated, in a group that included Leverkusen, Shakhtar and Real Sociedad. They have two players to lead their scoring through the group stage: Antonio Valencia and Wayne Rooney, each scoring twice.
Milan
A poor group stage from Milan didn’t stop them from moving on, finishing behind Barcelona but ahead of Ajax and Celtic. They were led in scoring by Mario Balotelli, scoring two goals. At the moment, Milan are only 9th in the Serie A.
Olympiacos
The Greek champions made it through thanks to their head to head record with Benfica, finishing behind PSG yet ahead of the Portuguese and Anderlecht. Kostas Mitroglou was their top scorer with 3 goals, all coming in one match. They are in the lead by quite a large distance in Greece.
PSG
The French champions didn’t have much trouble going through into the next stage for a second straight year, finishing first in a group that included Olympiacos, Benfica and Anderlecht, while Zlatan Ibrahimovic led their scoring with 8 goals. Things are going quite well for them in Ligue 1 as well, sitting on top of the division.
Real Madrid
Broke some records along the way, dropping only two points as they finished first in a group that included Juventus, Galatasaray and FC Copenhagen. They’re doing fine in the La Liga, currently third, three points behind the joint-leaders. Cristiano Ronaldo, with 9 goals, didn’t just lead them in scoring, but everyone else through the group stage, setting a new record.
Schalke 04
Schalke needed a last matchday win over Basel to make it into the next round, finishing behind Chelsea and ahead of the Swiss and Steaua. Julian Draxler was the team’s top scorer with 3 goals. They are currently sixth in the German Bundesliga.
Zenit
The Russian champions and league leaders become the first team to qualify into the next stage after picking up only six points. They finished behind Atletico Madrid yet ahead of Porto and Austria Wien, led by Aleksandr Kerzhakov and Hulk, each scoring two goals for the team.