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The final round of group stage fixtures concluded last night and 16 teams have qualified for the pre-quarter finals of the UEFA Champions League.
While many teams had already qualified on Tuesday night, the complete list of teams was finalised only after the last set of fixtures, especially Group F which was dubbed the ‘Group of Death’.
In spite of Dortmund, Arsenal and Napoli finishing on 12 points each (a new record), Napoli finished third because of the three-way head-to-head record which wasn’t in their favour. At the other end of the spectrum, Zenit qualified in spite of tallying just 6 points and a negative goal difference (another UCL record).
Juventus were earlier eliminated after Galatasaray beat them 1-0, thereby making AC Milan the only representative from the Serie A after a 0-0 draw with Ajax was enough to see them go through.
Below are the teams that have qualified for the Round of 16 which will be played in February. The draw will be held on December 16.
The winners of each group will face the runners-up from other groups and no two clubs from the same League (Association) can be drawn against each other until the quarter-final. Therefore, we will not see fixtures like an El Clasico, Bayern-Dortmund or a Manchester Derby in this round. Clubs can also not be drawn with another club from the same group.
