PSG draws Real Sociedad in Champions League Round of 16
The UEFA Champions League group stage was finished last midweek and PSG earned a place in the Round of 16 after finishing second in Group F. Following the draw held on Monday, Dec. 18, PSG know they will be going against Spanish club Real Sociedad in the first round of the knockout stage.
By drawing Real Sociedad, PSG avoided most elite European clubs including Bayern Munich, Manchester City, and Real Madrid, all of which could have been matched with the French champions possibly putting an early end to their Champions League run.
PSG had to wait until the final whistle of their MD6 game against Borussia Dortmund, one ending in a draw, to know their final European fate. With AC Milan's 2-1 win over Newcastle, however, the French advanced to the knockout stages while BVB topped the group and Newcastle fell out of Europe.
Rules of the draw simply stipulated that PSG couldn't be paired with a team from their group (Borussia Dortmund) or any French team in the first knockout round. However, no other French team advanced to the knockout stage, rendering this rule irrelevant for PSG.
Most predictions put Bayern Munich as the most probable team to come out of the pots paired with PSG, but that didn't happen on Monday as PSG will have a much easier (perhaps the easiest) opponent among teams qualified for the Round of 16 of this year's UEFA Champions League.
Bayern Munich boasted an estimated 17% chance of being drawn with PSG. Interestingly enough, clubs such as Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, and Real Sociedad (who ended up paired with PSG) found themselves on the lower end of the probability spectrum to draw PSG on Monday.
Both PSG and Real Sociedad will face each other while trying to win their first Champions League title in their respective histories.