Champions League Round of 16 draw on Monday

Bayer 04 have reached the knockout stage of the Champions League for the seventh time in eleven attempts. That was already certain before the final group match at the BayArena on Wednesday night. However, the convincing 3-0 victory against a helpless Monaco side did mean the Werkself completed a group stage without defeat for the first time. In addition to Bayer 04, only Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Paris St Germain, Juventus and Arsenal completed the six group matches without defeat.

Bayer 04 could meet one of two of those teams in the Round of 16 when the draw is made in Nyon on Monday at 12.00 CET: Juve and Arsenal. The other possible opponents in the remaining 16 teams are Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Leicester City and SSC Napoli. Two Spanish teams, two from Italy's Serie A and to from the English Premier League - six will become one from a Bayer 04 perspective on Monday.

Although the opponents for the Werkself in the last 16 of the Champions League will only be known at the start of next week, fans can already secure tickets for the home game in the Round of 16. There is certainly no need to wait as an attractive fixture as promised regardless of who the opposition will be.

Barcelona
What more can you say about the Catalans? In addition to Real and Bayern, Barca are one of the apparently eternal trio of the three best teams in Europe. In 2015, Barcelona, known as 'mes que un club' (more than a club), last won the Champions League and the Spaniards have won 24 league titles and 28 cup competitions. And the rest of the story is down to names like the following: Messi, Neymar, Suarez, Iniesta, Busquets, Piquet, Mascherano… Bayer 04 have already crossed swords with Barca ten times on the European stage. The two clubs last met in the Champions League last term with a 2-1 defeat at the Camp Nou and a 1-1 draw at the BayArena.

Atlético Madrid
The team coached by the Argentinian Diego Simeone is also familiar face. In 2010/11 there were two meetings in the Europa League with both matches ending all square at 1-1. And in 2014/15 there were two dramatic knockout clashes in the Champions League Round of 16 with both sides winning 1-0 at home. Atletico went through on penalties at the Vicente Calderón stadium. The Rojiblancos have won the Europa League twice (2010, 2012), and last lifted the Spanish league title in 2014. In 2014 and 2016 the club lost out in the Champions League Final to their city rivals Real.

Juventus
The Old Lady, captained by goalkeeper legend Gigi Buffon, have absolutely dominated Italian football for years winning the Italian league title five times in succession. Juve reached the 2015 Champions League Final in Berlin where they lost to Barcelona. Juventus are Italy’s record champions with 32 scudetti. Even though key players like Pirlo, Vidal and Pogba have left the club in the past two years, Juve are still the team to beat in Italy. Last term they won the double and are currently top of Serie A. Bayer 04 played Juve in the Champions League in 2002 losing 4-0 at the Stadio Delle Alpi after the game was twice rearranged due to fog. ~The Werkself won the return match at the BayArena 3-1.

SSC Napoli
Last season’s runners-up in Serie A have never played Bayer 04 in a competitive European fixture. In July 2012 the Werkself played them in a pre-season friendly at the Stadio San Paolo, losing 2-1 in front of a crowd of 25,000. The two-time Italian champions heyday was at end of the 1980s when the great Diego Maradona was in their line-up. Napoli have a former Bayer 04 player in their team in Arkadiusz Milik. He scored four goals in seven games at the start of the season. A torn cruciate in October put him out of action for several months.

Arsenal
The Gunners were the first Premier League Bayer 04 played back in 2001/02. The London club have been coached for an incredible 20 years by Arsene Wenger who led Arsenal to the league title in 1998, 2002 and 2004. Being drawn against the Gunners would have the added attraction of meeting their German players including Mesut Özil and Shkodran Mustafi. The Czech Republic goalkeeper Petr Cech, the Spaniard Santi Cazorla, the Swiss Granit Xhaka, the Frenchman Olivier Giroud, the Chilean star Alexis Sanchez and England striker Theo Walcott show the international pedigree at Arsenal.

Leicester City
This club became part of a football fairy tale last season. On matchday 30 in the 2014/15 campaign the Foxes were bottom of the table but a final burst of seven wins and a draw saved them from relegation. Last season, the coach Claudio Ranieri led the underdogs to a sensational league title win. That trend has continued in the Champions League with Leicester winning the group before the dead rubber encounter in Porto. However, the East Midlands team are failing to produce similar form in the league. The team, including former Bundesliga pros Ron-Robert Zieler, Christian Fuchs, Robert Huth and Shinji Okazaki, are currently sixteenth with just three wins in 14 games.