The four clubs Aston Villa could draw in Champions League last-16 | OneFootball

Aston Villa have already enjoyed a memorable return to the European stage and now Unai Emery’s side are awaiting their fate after reaching 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.

The clubs Aston Villa could draw in Champions League

After finishing the league phase as the eighth seed, Aston Villa progress directly through to the last 16.

While Friday’s draw will determine the exact position of the teams in the bracket, Aston VIlla know they will face one of the following teams in the last 16:

9th: Atalanta

10th: Borussia Dortmund

23th: Sporting CP

24th: Club Brugge

In the play-off rounds, 9th or 10th will play one of 23rd or 24th, and vice versa. Villa will play the winner of one of those ties, to be revealed in Friday’s draw.

Here’s the full list of the potential last-16 matches:

7th/8th to play 9th/10th/23rd/24th – Lille/Aston Villa to play Atalanta/Borussia Dortmund/Sporting/Club Brugge

5th/6th to play 11th/12th/21st/22nd – Atletico Madrid/Bayer Leverkusen to play Real Madrid/Bayern Munich/Celtic/Manchester City

3rd/4th to play 13th/14th/19th/20th – Arsenal/Inter Milan to play AC Milan/PSV/Feyenoord/Juventus

1st/2nd to play 15th/16th/17th/18th – Liverpool/Barcelona to play PSG/Benfica/Monaco/Brest

When will Aston Villa’s last-16 opponents play?

The Champions League play-offs take place across 11/12 and 18/19 February. 9th or 10th will be at home in the first leg, with 23rd or 24th home in the second leg.

Here’s a full list of the potential play-off ties, to be drawn on Friday:

9th/10th to play 23rd/24th – Atalanta/Borussia Dortmund to play Sporting/Club Brugge

11th/12th to play 21st/22nd – Real Madrid/Bayern Munich to play Celtic/Manchester City

13th/14th to play 19th/20th – AC Milan/PSV to play Feyenoord/Juventus

15th/16th to play 17th/18th – PSG/Benfica to play Monaco/Brest

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.