Who can Bayern face in the Champions League Round of 16?

SB Nation

With Bayern Munich’s win on the eighth and final matchday of the League Phase of the Champions League, they finish in second place. With the top-eight finish, Bayern earn a bye directly into the Round

of 16. The teams that they can be face have already been determined by seeding and the draws before and after the playoffs will determine who Bayern actually sees.

The four teams that Bayern could face include Bundesliga foes Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen, Greece’s Olympiacos, and Italy’s Atalanta. Atalanta (15th place) and Leverkusen (16th place) are the seeded teams and will host the second leg of the playoff rounds. Dortmund (17th place) and Olympiacos (18th place) are the unseeded teams, hosting the first leg. The playoff matchups will be determined by a draw on Friday to see which seeded and unseeded team will meet. After the playoff round, a draw will determine which winner will face Bayern and which will face Arsenal — each of whom will be on opposite sides of the bracket.

Olympiacos is Bayern’s most often faced team in the Champions League of the four possible opponents. They have matched up five times, including a two-legged tie in the first round of the 1980/81 European Cup. The rest were in the group stage. Bayern have outscored them 19-4 in all matches. Bayern have had two ties against Dortmund — the 1978/78 quarterfinal and the famous 2012/13 final. Last season’s quarterfinal was the first and only Champions League matchup between Bayern and Leverkusen. Bayern have never met in European competition.

Who would you like to see Bayern face in the Round of 16?

If you are looking for more Bayern Munich and German national team coverage, check out the latest episodes of Bavarian Podcast Works, which you can get on Acast, Spotify, Apple, or any leading podcast distributor…