Who Aston Villa could face in Champions League last-16 after play-off draw | OneFootball

Aston Villa have already enjoyed a memorable return to the European stage and now Unai Emery’s side have learned a little more about their fate in the knockout stages of the Champions League.

The 1982 European champions marked their return to the continent’s top club competition by beating Bayern Munich at Villa Park, while there were impressive wins over Bologna and RB Leipzig too.

Defeats on the road to Club Brugge and Monaco suggests that Villa will have to improve when the knockout stages get underway, with some suggestions that Emery’s side have gone off the boil since the early stages of the season.

But Emery has an impressive knockout record in European football, even if the majority of his wins across two-legged ties during spells at Villarreal and Sevilla have come in the Europa League.

It means Villa are set to be one of the teams to watch after they managed to sneak into the top eight and advance directly to the last 16 by beating Celtic 4-2 in a Villa Park thriller on the final day of the group stage.

Who Aston Villa could face in Champions League last-16

After finishing the league phase as the eighth seed, Aston Villa were paired with seventh seed Lille in the bracket for the last-16.

The teams which finished ninth, 10th, 23rd and 24th will now face off with the two winners then being drawn against the seeded teams.

Those knockout play-off ties are Club Brugge vs Atalanta and Sporting CP vs Borussia Dortmund.

When will Aston Villa discover their last-16 opponents?

The Champions League play-offs take place across 11/12 and 18/19 February. The draw then takes place on 21 February.

When will Aston Villa play their last-16 tie?

Aston Villa will play the first leg of their last-16 match away from home on 4/5 March and then the second leg at Villa Park on 11/12 March.

Champions League draw in full

Brest vs PSG - to play Liverpool or Barcelona in last-16

Monaco vs Benfica - to play Liverpool or Barcelona in last-16

PSV vs Juventus - to play Arsenal or Inter in last-16

AC Milan vs Feyenoord - to play Arsenal or Inter in last-16

Manchester City vs Real Madrid - to play Atletico Madrid or Bayer Leverkusen in last-16

Celtic vs Bayern Munich - to play Atletico Madrid or Bayer Leverkusen in last-16

Club Brugge vs Atalanta - to play Lille or Aston Villa in last-16

Sporting vs Borussia Dortmund - to play Lille or Aston Villa in last-16