Arsenal and Liverpool's paths to Champions League final confirmed after nightmare draw

Arsenal, Liverpool and Aston Villa have discovered their fate for the remainder of the Champions League.

The Premier League trio had entered directly into the last-16 stage after finishing inside the top eight of the league phase.

Liverpool lost just one of their eight league phase matches, finishing top of the table in the process, with Arsenal having completed the opening stage in third spot.

Aston Villa, who are appearing in the knockouts of the Champions League for the first time since its rebrand, snatched the final top-eight spot in the league phase.

It doesn’t appear to have made much difference for any of the English teams, given all three Premier League sides have been handed tricky paths to the final.

Liverpool, the No.1 seed, have been paired against reigning French champions Paris Saint-Germain for their last-16 tie, with a potential quarter-final to come against either Club Brugge or Aston Villa.

The bad news for Liverpool, is that should they progress beyond PSG to reach the last-eight, the second leg of their quarter-final tie will come away from Anfield.

It’s unlikely to get much easier for Liverpool – or even Aston Villa for that matter – given their most likely semi-final opponents are either Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid or Arsenal.

Arsenal themselves will have to get through PSV Eindhoven in the round of 16 if they’re to be rewarded with a trip to the Spanish capital to face the winner of the Madrid derby.

On the opposite side of the bracket, things appear a lot more simple. Barcelona, who finished second in the league phase, will play Benfica in the last-16, with the winner taking on either Borussia Dortmund or Lille.

In the bottom-right-hand side of the bracket, another intra-league tie sees reigning German champions Bayer Leverkusen taking on the record champions Bayern Munich. The victor from that clash will come up against one of Feyenoord or Inter Milan in the quarter-finals.

Champions League draw in full:

L16

Club Brugge vs Aston Villa

Borussia Dortmund vs Lille

Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid

Bayer Leverkusen vs Bayern Munich

PSV vs Arsenal

Feyenoord vs Inter Milan

PSG vs Liverpool

Benfica vs Barcelona

QFs

PSG/Liverpool vs Club Brugge/Aston Villa (QF1)

PSV/Arsenal vs Real Madrid/Atletico Madrid (QF2)

Benfica/Barcelona vs Borussia Dortmund/Lille (QF3)

Bayer Leverkusen/Bayern Munich vs Feyenoord/Inter Milan (QF4)

SFs

QF2 vs QF1

QF3 vs QF4