Uefa Champions League Round Of 16 Draw 2015

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The 2015-16 Champions League round-of-16 schedule was revealed on Monday at UEFA's headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, where Arsenal drew Barcelona in the tie of the round.

Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain were drawn against Premier League titleholders Chelsea in a re-enactment of last season's round-of-16 tie, while Real Madrid's clash against Roma promises fireworks. Elsewhere, Manchester City have a great chance of advancing after being drawn with Dynamo Kiev.

In a clash of domestic titans, Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich will take on Serie A counterparts and last season's European runners-up Juventus, who lost to the German giants 4-0 in the 2013 quarter-finals.

This season's round-of-16 matchups are as follows, per the official Champions League Twitter account:

UEFA Champions League @ ChampionsLeague
The official result of the #UCLdraw https://t.co/SZprFs0YMP

The dates for this year's round-of-16 fixtures were also confirmed on Monday, with the first legs to be played on Feb. 16, 17, 23 and 24, while the second legs will be played on March 8, 9, 15 and 16:

UEFA Champions League @ ChampionsLeague
CONFIRMED: The round of 16 schedule... #UCLdraw https://t.co/UZfaYXV8vu

History Repeats Itself

One theme concurrent almost throughout this season's round-of-16 draw is the matching together of familiar foes.

In particular, fans have grown accustomed to seeing passing powerhouses Arsenal and Barcelona meet in the Champions League, although OptaJoe pointed out that only one fanbase is likely to be happy:

OptaJoe @ OptaJoe
1 - Arsenal have won only one of their seven Champions League games against Barcelona. Predictable.

The Gunners can take solace in the fact that their sole win over Barca came in the home leg of their 2011 round-of-16 clash, beating the Blaugrana 2-1 before succumbing 3-1 in the reverse fixture to exit the contest.

Chelsea and PSG, meanwhile, are becoming ever more familiar, as this is the third season in succession the two teams have faced off in the Champions League.

Matt Dunham/Associated Press

Manager Jose Mourinho's reigning Premier League champions will travel to Ligue 1 titleholders PSG in the first leg of this season's encounter, hoping to seal revenge after the French outfit won last season's tie on away goals.

PSG boss Laurent Blanc can afford to be confident heading into the meeting, after Infostrada's Simon Gleave depicted how far the Blues have fallen since their last matchup, with Chelsea currently 16th in the English top flight:

Simon Gleave @ SimonGleave
When Chelsea played PSG last season, they were rated about the same by the @EuroClubIndex. PSG now ~400 points more https://t.co/8kq6yvZutC

Bayern and Juventus have met eight times in the past, but their two-legged tie in the 2012-13 campaign was the first time colliding in the knockout stage of the Champions League, as their six previous clashes were in the group phase.

The Germans won just once in those first five meetings, but Pep Guardiola's side have now beaten the Bianconeri in their last three successive games, the last two of those resulting in a 4-0 aggregate thrashing almost three years ago.

Round-of-16 Favourites

Boris Streubel/Getty Images

Spain are once again among the most heavily represented nations in the knockout stage, and the La Liga trio of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid can all hope to go far after topping their respective groups.

Of those teams, current La Liga leaders Barcelona will be expected to once again contend for the top prize, and a CNN Sport poll discovered Luis Enrique's reigning champions are major favourites to win back-to-back crowns:

CNN Sport @ cnnsport
Now the group stages are over, who do you think will win the @Championsleague? https://t.co/tDHRFCRw9h #UCL

Both Barca and Real have shown weakness of late, with the Blaugrana conceding a 2-2 draw to Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday before Los Blancos suffered a 1-0 defeat at Villarreal on Sunday. However, they'll both be expected to advance to the quarter-finals.

Manchester City will have a superb opportunity to make the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time in their history after drawing Dynamo Kiev, a fixture that's been hit by controversy before it's even begun.

Jon Super/Associated Press

The Ukrainian club are still serving a three-game UEFA punishment due to a racism sanction, and the home leg of their meeting will be played in an empty stadium, according to theManchester Evening News' Anthony Jepson.

Group F winners Bayern Munich match Madrid as the tournament's highest scorers so far, with 19 goals to their name, and captain Philipp Lahm recently backed his side as favourites against any team, per German broadcaster TZ (h/t Goal.com's Harry West): "We will be favourites against each opponent. Then we want to advance to the next round."

Darko Bandic/Associated Press

Team-mate Jerome Boateng joined captain Lahm and despite hailing Juve as serious competition, per the official Champions League Twitter account, he insisted Bayern will progress to the final eight:

UEFA Champions League @ ChampionsLeague
Boateng: "[Juve] are strong. They're very clever & tactically outstanding. Nevertheless, we're favourites" #UCLdraw https://t.co/HHu9MhXm1K

Like Real, Guardiola's side also conceded a stingy total of just three goals, all of which came across their two matches against Arsenal. But they come up against the group stage's top defence in the shape of Juve.

The Gunners currently lead the English top flight, which has been as open as ever this season in contrast to some of Europe's other divisions, and manager Arsene Wenger has extended his superb record in the Champions League, per Bleacher Report UK:

B/R Football @ brfootball
Arsenal in the Champions League Round of 16: ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ https://t.co/zXHqpOCxb3

That run seems all too likely to come to an end in the round of 16, though, as Barcelona still pose the biggest threat left in the competition, and one manager Wenger knows all too well.

Based on statistics, one might not expect Italy to fare well in the round of 16 following Juventus and Roma's performances thus far. While Juve conceded just three goals in the group phase, they also netted a low of just six themselves, and Roma were the worst defence, with 16 goals leaked in just six games.

The Bianconeri managed to make last season's final and found themselves outclassed by eventual champions Barca, and manager Massimiliano Allegri will see 2013 champions Bayern as another titanic task.