Champions League gears up for Final 16 draw after record breaking group stage

The Champions League finished its group stage on Wednesday and is set for its Final 16 draw on December 16 after a record 308 goals were scored in 96 matches over the span of three months. 

 

On Monday at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, the Final 16 Draw will take place and the round of 16 matchups will be revealed.

The knockout stage is to start in February 2020 

Thirty-two teams entered the competition and only 16 remain. The eight group winners will be seeded on one pot and the eight second place group stage finishers will be separated to the second pot. 
 

Bayern Munich on Wednesday became the first German club ever to win all of their six group matches in the Champions League when they swept to a 3-1 home victory over Jose Mourinho's Tottenham. 

Only six teams had ever won six out of six in a UEFA Champions League group before Bayern joined them this season

Bayern’s overall tally of 24 is the second highest recorded only one goal behind PSG’s 25 in from 2017/18 – and their 16 away from home is a record. 
 

Poland star Robert Lewandowski comes fifth in the list with 69 goals. 

Title holders Liverpool finish top of Group E with 13 points, one point ahead of Napoli, with a 2-0 victory over Salzburg on Tuesday as a potentially tricky encounter turned into a second-half cruise with quickfire goals from Naby Keita and Mohamed Salah. 

Mohamed Salah is also the top scorer for the club and his goal on Tuesday was his 11th for Liverpool this season and took him to 20 Champions League goals for the club.
 

Group winners (Seeded): 
Barcelona (ESP), Bayern München (GER), Juventus (ITA), Leipzig (GER), Liverpool (ENG, holders), Manchester City (ENG), Paris Saint-Germain (FRA), Valencia (ESP)

Group runners-up (Unseeded): 
Atalanta (ITA), Atlético Madrid (ESP), Borussia Dortmund (GER), Chelsea (ENG), Lyon (FRA), Napoli (ITA), Real Madrid (ESP), Tottenham Hotspur (ENG)
 

Manchester City, secured the Group C top spot as they finished with 14 points from six games, seven ahead of Atalanta who joined them in the last 16 after a 3-0 win at Shakhtar Donetsk.

Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus netted a superb hat-trick as they came from behind to beat Croatian title holders Dinamo Zagreb 4-1 away on Wednesday under manager Pep Guardiola

Barcelona secured the top place in Group F ahead of Wednesday’s match where 17-year-old Ansu Fati became the youngest scorer in the competition’s history by firing in a late winner to seal Barcelona's 2-1 victory at San Siro.

Barcelona top their group with 14 points ahead of Dortmund on 10. 

13 time European Champions and top UEFA rankers Real Madrid cleared for the final 16 as Runners up in Group A behind Paris St Germain who top the group with 14 points. 

Madrid had a slow start to the season but managed to rejig under Zinedine Zidane who has helped the club win the Title 4 times, thrice as a coach and once a player. 

Juventus finished the group stage at the top of Group D with 14 points as Cristiano Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuain scored late goals as Juventus beat hosts Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 on Wednesday to eliminate the Germans from the competition.

Cristiano Ronaldo also hold the record for most goals in a single group stage with 11 goals for Real Madrid in 2015/16 and is also the all time top scorer in UEFA club competitions with 131 goals, 14 goals ahead of Lionel Messi.  

Paulo Dybala is the Italian club’s top scorer under Ex-Napoli boss Maurizio Sarri.