There is one last car to hang up, either Atalanta Bergamo or Villarreal, opposed Thursday (19:00) in a game delayed due to the snow.
All the other big clubs and their stars have punched their ticket, except Borussia Dortmund and its striker Erling Haaland.
Barça absent from the eighth
Barça de Xavi, his new coach, did not resist Bayern Munich (3-0) on Wednesday, who finished with the maximum of 18 points, like Liverpool and Ajax Amsterdam.
These three clubs have done justice to their status, they who weigh 16 C1 in total: six for Bayern and Liverpool, four for Ajax.
Exit therefore FC Barcelona and its five trophies: here is the Catalan club donated to the Europa League, a first for him since 2003-2004 and the symbol of the end of an era.
With Lionel Messi, Barça had always crossed the hens of C1 since 2004;
without him since this summer, Barcelona will watch the C1 on TV in February-March ...
Three other big football cities are doubly at the rendezvous of the round of 16: Madrid, Manchester and Lisbon.
The Spanish capital has placed its two clubs, Real and Atlético, as the capital of "brit pop", with United and City, both top of their group, and the Portuguese capital, with Benfica and Sporting , both second.
France at the center of the draw
Historical featherweight with its two meager European Cups (C1 1993 for OM, C2 1996 for PSG), the French Ligue 1 is however likely to occupy all the conversations before the draw scheduled Monday at 12:00 in Nyon ( Swiss).
Canadian Losc center forward Jonathan David and his teammate England midfielder Angel Gomes during the Champions League match between VfL Wolfsburg and Lille in Wolfsburg, December 8, 2021 Ronny HARTMANN AFP
All the second in the group will dream of falling on Lille, the only club in the top hat without a European record.
Le Losc is only playing the eighth for the second time in its history after 2007.
In the other direction, all the first of the group will want to avoid Paris Saint-Germain, preceded by Manchester City.
The clubs in the first hat will also hope to avoid Chelsea, reigning European champion, joined in the last minutes by Zenit Saint Petersburg (3-3) and doubled by Juventus for first place.
The Atlético Madrid of a found Antoine Griezmann, old road of the Champions League, is also a bone of the second hat.
It remains to be seen who from Atalanta or Villarreal will complete the picture.
The Italian club knows the contract early Thursday evening: he must win to play a third round of 16 in a row.
The stars at the rendezvous, except Haaland
Among the players, all the greats of the football world are there, and the top ten in the Ballon d'Or ranking have therefore made an appointment for February 2022.
The stars of Paris Saint-Germain, the French Kylian Mbappé (center) and the Argentinian Lionel Messi, during the match between PSG and Bruges, at the Parc des Princes in Paris on December 7, 2021 FRANCK FIFE AFP
In addition to the comets that remain at Barça (Ousmane Dembélé, Memphis Depay), the big absentee is Haaland, top scorer in the C1 last season (10 goals) and 11th in the Ballon d'Or.
But the Norwegian gunner Borussia has scored "only" three goals this season and his side were edged out by Sporting Portugal in the direct confrontation (1-0 / 1-3).
There is still a plethora of scorers for the 8th, starting with the best of them this season, Ivorian Ajax Sébastien Haller (10 goals).
The Ballon d'Argent of Bayern Munich, Robert Lewandowski (9 goals) and the stars of Paris SG Lionel Messi (5 goals) and Kylian Mbappé (4 goals) will also be there, ready to fight to reach the final scheduled for May 28 in St. Petersburg.
.
The heads of series:
Manchester city
Liverpool
Ajax Amsterdam
real Madrid
Bayern Munich
Manchester United
Juventus Turin
Lille
.
The runners-up:
Paris SG
Atlético Madrid
Sporting Portugal
Inter Milan
Benfica
Chelsea
RB Salzburg
Atalanta Bergamo or Villarreal
.
Donations to the Europa League
FC Barcelona
Sevilla FC
Zenit St. Petersburg
Leipzig
Port
Dortmund
Sheriff Tiraspol
Atalanta Bergamo or Villarreal
© 2021 AFP