There are just four spots left to complete the field of 16 teams that will be advancing to the 2021-22 UEFA Champions League knockout rounds.
European giants Liverpool, Ajax, Bayern Munich and Juventus were the first four teams to clinch on Matchday 4 of the group stage, while Manchester United, Chelsea, Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, Sporting CP, Real Madrid and Inter Milan joined them on Matchday 5. Atletico Madrid punched its ticket on the final matchday.
Only the top two teams in each group advance, and there’s incentive to win the group when it comes to the Round of 16 draw on Monday, Dec. 13. The first-place teams from each group will be seeded, and their Round of 16 opponent will be drawn from a separate pot containing the second-place finishers.
Champions League Round of 16 qualifiers
Here are the clubs that have clinched berths into the Round of 16. The table makes it clear which are advancing as group winners and which are group runners-up.
| Group | Winner (1st place) | Runner-up (2nd place) |
|---|---|---|
| Grp A | Manchester City | Paris Saint-Germain |
| Grp B | Liverpool | Atletico Madrid |
| Grp C | Ajax | Sporting CP |
| Grp D | Real Madrid | Inter Milan |
| Grp E | Bayern Munich | — |
| Grp F | Manchester United | — |
| Grp G | — | — |
| Grp H | Chelsea / Juventus | Chelsea / Juventus |
When is the Champions League Round of 16 draw?
The Round of 16 draw will be held on Dec. 13 at 6 a.m. ET from the UEFA headquarters in Switzerland. It will be streamed by UEFA.com and available to U.S. fans to stream on Paramount+.
The eight group winners will be seeded for purposes of the draw. They will make up one pot, while the other pot will contain the runners-up from each group.
The three key details to remember for this Round of 16 draw:
- Teams from the same country cannot be drawn against one another (see table below);
- Teams from the same group cannot be drawn against one another (see table above);
- The group winners (i.e. seeded teams) will host the second leg of each Round of 16 series. This is perceived to be an advantage because, if an extra-time session or penalty-kick shootout is needed after Leg 2, it would happen on home soil.
Knockout round qualifiers by country
| Nation | Total Clubs | Clubs |
|---|---|---|
| England | 4 | Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City |
| Italy | 2 | Inter Milan, Juventus |
| Spain | 2 | Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid |
| France | 1 | Paris Saint-Germain |
| Germany | 1 | Bayern Munich |
| Netherlands | 1 | Ajax Amsterdam |
| Portugal | 1 | Sporting CP |
The two legs of the Round of 16 will be spread over eight matchdays between February and March. The second leg of each series will take place three weeks after the first leg.
The eight teams left standing after the Round of 16 will participate in a quarterfinal draw on March 18, 2022, which will determine the rest of the Champions League bracket through to the final in Saint Petersburg, Russia on May 28. There are no seedings involved in that draw, and unlike the Round of 16, teams from the same country can be drawn against one another.
Champions League Round of 16 schedule
Round of 16, 1st Legs
| Date | Match | Time (ET) | TV channels | Stream |
| Feb. 15 | Round of 16 #1 | 3 p.m. | TBD | fuboTV, Paramount+ |
| Feb. 15 | Round of 16 #2 | 3 p.m. | TBD | fuboTV, Paramount+ |
| Feb. 16 | Round of 16 #3 | 3 p.m. | TBD | fuboTV, Paramount+ |
| Feb. 16 | Round of 16 #4 | 3 p.m. | TBD | fuboTV, Paramount+ |
| Feb. 22 | Round of 16 #5 | 3 p.m. | TBD | fuboTV, Paramount+ |
| Feb. 22 | Round of 16 #6 | 3 p.m. | TBD | fuboTV, Paramount+ |
| Feb. 23 | Round of 16 #7 | 3 p.m. | TBD | fuboTV, Paramount+ |
| Feb. 23 | Round of 16 #8 | 3 p.m. | TBD | fuboTV, Paramount+ |
Round of 16, 2nd Legs
| Date | Match | Time (ET) | TV channels | Stream |
| March 8 | Round of 16 #1 | 3 p.m. | TBD | fuboTV, Paramount+ |
| March 8 | Round of 16 #2 | 3 p.m. | TBD | fuboTV, Paramount+ |
| March 9 | Round of 16 #3 | 3 p.m. | TBD | fuboTV, Paramount+ |
| March 9 | Round of 16 #4 | 3 p.m. | TBD | fuboTV, Paramount+ |
| March 15 | Round of 16 #5 | 3 p.m. | TBD | fuboTV, Paramount+ |
| March 15 | Round of 16 #6 | 3 p.m. | TBD | fuboTV, Paramount+ |
| March 16 | Round of 16 #7 | 3 p.m. | TBD | fuboTV, Paramount+ |
| March 16 | Round of 16 #8 | 3 p.m. | TBD | fuboTV, Paramount+ |
Who will win the UEFA Champions League 2021-22?
As the tournament progresses, the oddsmakers are constantly adjusting the future prices for each team when it comes to winning the Champions League. Here are the latests odds courtesy of U.S.-based DraftKings (asterisk denotes teams that have already qualified for the Round of 16):
Champions League outright winner odds
| Team | Nov. 24 | Nov. 23 |
|---|---|---|
| Manchester City* | +300 | +300 |
| Bayern Munich* | +400 | +350 |
| Liverpool* | +550 | +550 |
| PSG* | +600 | +500 |
| Chelsea* | +600 | +600 |
| Manchester United* | +1600 | +1200 |
| Real Madrid* | +1600 | +2200 |
| Ajax* | +2000 | +2000 |
| Juventus* | +3500 | +3500 |
| Atletico Madrid | +5000 | +3500 |
| Inter Milan* | +5000 | +5000 |
| Barcelona | +6500 | +5000 |
| Atalanta | +10000 | +10000 |
| Sevilla | +13000 | +20000 |
| AC Milan | +13000 | +20000 |
| Porto | +18000 | +15000 |
| RB Salzburg | +18000 | +15000 |
| Sporting CP* | +20000 | +100000 |
| Benfica | +20000 | +15000 |
| Villarreal | +20000 | +15000 |
| Lille | +20000 | +50000 |
| Wolfsburg | +30000 | +30000 |
UEFA Champions League 2021-2022: Tournament format
The 2021-2022 edition of the UEFA Champions League features a familiar format — and one massive new twist.
As usual, the tournament started out with a group stage (eight groups of four teams each), and only the top two finishers in each group advance to the Round of 16 that kicks off in February 2022. Two-leg, aggregate-goal knockout rounds are played the rest of the way through to the single game final that will be held in Russia on May 28, 2022.
- Group Stage: Sept. 14-15, Sept. 28-29, Oct. 19-20, Nov. 2-3, Nov. 23-24, Dec. 7-8
- Round of 16: Feb. 15-16, March 8-9 / Feb. 22-23, March 15-16
- Quarterfinals: April 5-6, April 12-13
- Semifinals: April 26-27, May 3-4
- Final: May 28, 2022 (Saint Petersburg, Russia)
No away goals tiebreaker in Champions League
Here’s that twist: For the first time since 1965, there will be no away goals tiebreaker used in the knockout rounds of UEFA competitions, including the Champions League, after it was abolished in June 2021.
Series that are tied on aggregate goals after the conclusion of the second leg will go straight to extra time and, if necessary, a penalty-kick shootout.
How to watch the UEFA Champions League
The 2021-22 UEFA Champions League is carried in the United States by CBS (English) and Univision (Spanish) across a number of TV and streaming platforms.
- Dates: 29 matchdays from Sept. 2021-May 2022
- TV Channels: CBS, CBS Sports Network-CBSSN (select matches only)
- Spanish-language TV: Univision, TUDN, UniMas, Galavision, TUDNxtra (TUDNxtra available through select cable, satellite & streaming providers)
- Streaming (English): Paramount+
- Streaming (Spanish): fuboTV, PrendeTV, TUDN.tv, TUDN app (authenticated users)
CBS Sports has live pregame, halftime and postgame studio shows, which air on CBS Sports Network and stream on Paramount+. Also back this year is the RedZone-like whip-around show called “The Golazo Show,” also on CBS Sports Network and Paramount+, with all the goals and best chances from the concurrent group stage matches.
Univision mirrors that coverage with its own pregame and postgame shows. Its whip-around show is called “Zona Fútbol.”
Nearly every Champions League match is available to be streamed on fuboTV, which offers a free seven-day trial to new subscribers. The streaming platform carries all the Univision family of channels: Univision, TUDN, UniMas, Galavision and TUDNxtra.
Univision will stream select matches on its ad-supported platform PrendeTV, which is available free of charge across mobile and connected TV devices, Amazon Fire TV, Apple (iOS and tvOS), Google (Android phones and TV devices), Roku, and via the web on Prende.tv.
