Who will be next for Panathinaikos?

By: Peter Katsiris | December 11th, 2008

About twenty-four hours after Panathinaikos sealed its spot in the first knockout round of the UEFA Champions League, the ‘Trifylli’ are now awaiting their next task in the round of 16. Henk Ten Cate’s Panathinaikos notched a 1-0 win over Anorthosis Famagusta at the OAKA Spiro Louis Stadium on Tuesday, and with a little bit of help from Werder Bremen in Germany, the centenary club finished atop the Group B standings ahead of Inter Milan.

Now the next round will prove to be another challenge for the Athenian giants. Sealing first place appeared to be a great achievement to avoid fellow group winners – including FC Barcelona. Though Panathinaikos won’t be making a trip to the Camp Nou, several potential opponents will also pose a stiff test for the ‘Prasini’.

Making their first appearance in the knockout stages since the 2001-2002 edition of the UEFA Champions League, Panathinaikos will make its premiere appearance in the competition’s knockout stages for the first time since UEFA changed the format of the world’s most prestigious club competition in the summer of 2003.

England and Spain are the best represented country in the next round, with four clubs from each country emerging from the group stages. The Greeks are the least represented at this stage with Panathinaikos the lone club flying the Greek flag; likewise for Germany’s Bayern Munich, and France’s Olympique Lyonnais.

With several regulations on the draw, there are only seven opponents for Panathinaikos. The draw’s regulations include:
-          Teams from the same association cannot be drawn against each other.
-          The winners and runners-up of the same group cannot be drawn against each other.
-          Group winners cannot be drawn against each other.
-          Group runners-up cannot be drawn against each other.
-          All group runners-up will play their first-leg matches at home.

The draw is scheduled for Friday December 19^th, and will take place at the UEFA Headquarters in Nyon. With several contenders in both sets of teams – seeded and unseeded – hold plenty of potential winners, there are likely to be many interesting matchups in the round of 16.

2008-2009 UEFA Champions League
First knockout round – first leg to be played February 24/25; second leg to be played on March 10/11
Group winners (seeded teams)/Group runners-up (unseeded teams)
Group A: AS Roma (Italy)/Chelsea FC (England)
Group B: Panathinaikos FC (Greece)/FC Internazionale Milano (Italy)
Group C: FC Barcelona (Spain)/Sporting Clube de Portugal (Portugal)
Group D: Liverpool FC (England)/Club Atlético de Madrid (Spain)
Group E: Manchester United FC (England)/Villarreal CF (Spain)
Group F: FC Bayern München (Germany)/Olympique Lyonnais (France)
Group G: FC Porto (Portugal)/Arsenal FC (England)
Group H: Juventus (Italy)/Real Madrid CF (Spain)