With the knockout round, the Champions League enters the decisive phase. Who are the favourites? What is there to earn?
When do the round of 16 matches take place?
The fan has to wait exactly one month and one day until all eight quarter-finalists have been determined. For marketing reasons, UEFA is extending the knockout stage over four weeks. With the round of 16 Paris St. Germain – Bayern Munich (0:1), AC Milan – Tottenham Hotspur (1:0), Club Brugge – Benfica Lisbon (0:2) and Borussia Dortmund – Chelsea FC (1:0) it started in the first week.
Eintracht Frankfurt – SSC Naples (0:2) and FC Liverpool – Real Madrid (2:5), then RB Leipzig – Manchester City and Inter Milan – FC Porto (02/22/2023). The return games will take place on 7./8. and 14./15. March instead.
Who gets the title?
With Paris versus Bayern and the repeat of last year’s final between Liverpool FC and Real Madrid, two of the round of 16 games exude real final flair. It will be interesting to see how Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool do in the face of the crisis in form Premier League presents.
In addition, Manchester City wants to finally defeat its premier class curse. Star coach Pep Guardiola in particular has accumulated a long list of failures. If you look at the current form of the 16 teams, there is no way around SSC Naples – the southern Italians are the surprise team in European football. And the favorite against the Europa League winner Eintracht Frankfurt.
But his manager Markus Krösche has named reaching the quarter-finals as a clear goal. After the disappointment at the World Cup, it would be important for the Bundesliga that the four round of 16 not only make a good impression, but that at least two teams make it to the quarter-finals. The most difficult task for Leipzig against Manchester City.
How much money is it?
An incredible two billion euros will be distributed to participants this season. Each starter received 15.64 million euros from the 500.5 million UEFA pot for taking part in the group stage alone – there were also bonuses for victory and points.
There are 9.6 million for all round of 16, quarter-finalists receive another 10.6 million, the two semi-final clubs 12.5 million. Whoever makes it to the final gets 15.5 million, the winner another 4.5 million. But that’s not all: In addition, the clubs are paid for their European Cup performance over the past ten years based on success, around 600 million are divided up in this way.
And there is the so-called market pool, which is estimated at a total of 300.3 million euros and which includes the television money. There, half of the TV revenue is divided in line with the performance in the league. Bayern get 40 percent as Bundesliga champions, Dortmund as runners-up 30 percent, third-placed Leverkusen 20 percent and fourth-placed Leipzig 10 percent. Frankfurt, not qualified through the league, gets nothing. However, since the allocation of the second half of the market pool depends on the games played in the Champions League, the Frankfurt team can clear away millions more in a run in the knockout round – not to mention the audience revenue.
What’s next after the round of 16?
On March 17, 2023, i.e. two days after the last round of 16, UEFA will draw the quarter-finals and semi-finals. There are no restrictions there, so there could also be duels between two German teams – if they advance a round.
The quarterfinals will take place on 11./12. and 18./19. April 2023, the dates for the semi-finals are April 9th and 10th. and 16./17. May 2023. The final will take place on June 10, 2023 in Istanbul’s Ataturk Olympic Stadium.
Is there the Champions League in the sports show?
In the 2022/23 season, all Champions League games with German participation will be available as live audio reports. All live streams are offered for the entire duration of the game and without interruptions for music, advertising or news. The reports are embedded in moderated programs with analysis discussions and contributions that always begin ten minutes before kick-off. The audio streams can be found in the ARD audio library, in the Sportschau app, on the web and on smart speakers.
Where are the games on TV?
If you want to watch all games live, you need two subscriptions. As in the previous season, the games are running on DAZN and Amazon. ZDF offers summaries on free-to-air TV on Wednesdays from 11 p.m.
