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UEFA Champions League: Round Of 16 Draw


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Today’s set of matches left to be played but the Last 16 is already causing controversy with a lot of people asking how UEFA are going to pull this one out of the hat.  It’s already feeding the conspiracy mongers and I don’t blame them...

The question is Chelsea FC here and their potential suitors for this following phase of matches once the first round group stage is completed tonight. 

Some say certain matches tonight could be manipulated so as we don’t get the big problem UEFA could find themselves in and if that doesn’t come off, then the eternal conspiracy theory that draws are manipulated which is something most people know occurs but nobody has ever spilled the beans neither are they likely to. 

I think most of us know where the problem lies already, but just in case, here it is and with it Chelsea have included FC Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Besiktas. 

Chelsea can obviously only draw teams they haven’t played already but they also can’t draw sides from their own league (Premier League) in the last 16. Every English club bar Chelsea have (or look to) finish first in their respective groups which leaves only three possible outcomes for Chelsea which are the aforementioned clubs in the previous paragraph.

The problem is that all three (Barça, PSG and Besiktas) can draw various other clubs and not just Chelsea which leaves UEFA with a conundrum of calculating combinations...

If UEFA do a natural draw, what happens if those three clubs come out of the hat early without Chelsea being drawn with one of them?  There is apparently a 36% possibility of this happening and that’s a large percentage. 

They could do a specific draw for Chelsea first by placing their name on the board and then putting the three balls of the three named clubs in the pot... But that would be obviously manipulated seeing as all three clubs can draw other teams that have qualified and make it unfair.

So what many are saying is that no matter what UEFA do in the Last 16 Draw, it will serve plenty of conspiracies and turn out to be the most controversial draw ever with many questions unanswered. 

Like I said at the start... UEFA do have the possibility that either Spurs or Liverpool don’t come first in their respective groups and in so doing alleviate their problems somewhat... But that would also serve to kick up a lot of dust and get sports journalists searching for a hidden scandal.

How do you see it guys?

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I can see us getting PSG haha, in seriousness totally went off my mind that Barcelona and the rest can draw the other English clubs. If it goes the traditional way i can see them drawing us first against the optional three then continue the rest of the draw as per usual. 

Top post babes 

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9 minutes ago, True Blue said:

I can see us getting PSG haha, in seriousness totally went off my mind that Barcelona and the rest can draw the other English clubs. If it goes the traditional way i can see them drawing us first against the optional three then continue the rest of the draw as per usual. 

Top post babes 

Hahaha... Thanks mate! ;)

To be honest I’ve been waiting many years for this sort of draw to occur with the rules set in place for the last-16 Draw. I always thought is would occur to a Spanish club because they’ve had 5 in the competition a few times but it’s occured now. I want to see how UEFA get out of this one because whatever they do they seemed doomed to questions being asked unless they partition the draw for the first time which would make for curious viewing and also I don’t even know how they can manage that fairly and cleanly. 

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Just now, SirBalon said:

Hahaha... Thanks mate! ;)

To be honest I’ve been waiting many years for this sort of draw to occur with the rules set in place for the last-16 Draw. I always thought is would occur to a Spanish club because they’ve had 5 in the competition a few times but it’s occured now. I want to see how UEFA get out of this one because whatever they do they seemed doomed to questions being asked unless they partition the draw for the first time which would make for curious viewing and also I don’t even know how they can manage that fairly and cleanly. 

After last night when i knew we would end second, i also checked the potential teams. Then i thought obviously the best case scenario is Besiktas which won't happen. Then i thought but those three can't be exclusive to us, they can draw all the other teams as well. Basically you pointed all the options and i think it will be in these lines: Chelsea will be drawn first, then we will get the potential opponents get that out of the line and the draw continues.

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Just now, True Blue said:

Chelsea will be drawn first, then we will get the potential opponents get that out of the line and the draw continues.

But if that happens that will still be seen as manipulation mate and whoever the club you draw will say that it’s a coincidence they didn’t get any of the multitude of other options. This is a very curious situation...

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13 minutes ago, SirBalon said:

But if that happens that will still be seen as manipulation mate and whoever the club you draw will say that it’s a coincidence they didn’t get any of the multitude of other options. This is a very curious situation...

Yes agreed 100%, but can't see how can they do it the other way

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Would they just do a 'natural' draw until there's only one team left for Chelsea. Then that team and Chelsea wouldn't be entered into anymore draws until one of them came up.

Happens all the time with the group draws, keeping teams from countries separate and split between the two nights for games.

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22 minutes ago, ScoRoss said:

Would they just do a 'natural' draw until there's only one team left for Chelsea. Then that team and Chelsea wouldn't be entered into anymore draws until one of them came up.

Happens all the time with the group draws, keeping teams from countries separate and split between the two nights for games.

I don’t think anything like this has ever happened that I can remember mate. Plus the situation that you’ve given as an option for UEFA is probably the fairest although not 100% fair as that final possible team of the three Chelsea can only play could say that there were still various teams they could’ve been paired up with in the pot. 

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seeing as Chelsea can only get those 3 teams, then it's only 'natural' that those 3 other balls (PSG, Barca, Besiktas) can only be drawn against them? I don't see what the problem is. It's just the way the groups have panned out and left these anomalies, so to speak.

I really don't think UEFA care about possible conspiracies or paranoia of some fans. This kind of thing is out of their control, surely? What other viable alternatives are there? If anything, they can't manipulate it any more by letting Chelsea have some kind of free pass to play other teams just so they can avoid PSG or Barca. 

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12 minutes ago, SirBalon said:

Let’s see what happens in the Liverpool and Spurs games tonight first mate... That could be interesting indeed. 

Spurs can't finish second? Three points ahead and a better head to head balance against Madrid who are second?

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4 hours ago, Danny said:

Make Chelsea an automatic first draw, draw from a pool of teams who they can play. Done.

Conspiracy theorists go home

Well those three clubs can say that they’re being manpipulated in the draw as they have more than one option (Chelsea) to be paired with...

Obviously I understand that there’s no other option because that’s the way it’s ended up, but it does kind of restrict a free draw for the others until Chelsea has had their rival chosen.  

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Confirmed teams for the draw on Monday 11th Dec.

Barcelona
Juventus
PSG
Bayern
Chelsea
Roma
Man Utd
Basel
Besiktas
Porto
Man City
Shakhtar
Real Madrid
Tottenham
Liverpool
Sevilla

 

my guess for the draw

Chelsea vs Barcelona
Bayern vs Besiktas
Man Utd vs  Shakhtar
Liverpool vs Real Madrid
Sevilla vs Porto
Juventus vs Man City
Basel vs Roma
PSG vs Tottenham

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Forgot how complicated this could get. They should just grow a pair, dump 16 balls into a pot and draw them out. I know they want to avoid same nation ties but most people would cream themselves if they got Barcelona v Real Madrid or Man Utd v Liverpool in the last 16. I get that the seeding being a reward for finishing first as well would be lost but meh.

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