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Who could Manchester United face in the round of 16 of the Champions League?

by Harry Henshaw

Manchester United completed their Champions League group stage campaign with a 1-1 draw with BSC Young Boys at Old Trafford.

Ralf Rangnick made 11 changes from the team that beat Crystal Palace, with a number of second choice and youth team players getting a runout.

Mason Greenwood scored United’s goal with a stunning left foot volley before Young Boys drew level with another spectacular effort from Fabian Rieder.

Attention will now turn to the knockout rounds which are drawn on Monday the 13th of December at 11AM UK time, with matches beginning in February.

As United topped their group they will avoid most of the heavy hitters in the round of 16 by virtue of being seeded going into the draw.

This means they will avoid the likes of Bayern Munich and Real Madrid and also cannot play English teams at this stage so will not play Manchester City or Chelsea who finished as runners up in their group.

United will play one of the following teams in the next round:

Paris Saint-Germain

Atletico Madrid

Sporting Lisbon

Inter Milan

Benfica

RB Salzburg

The Old Trafford club will obviously be looking to avoid PSG and Atletico Madrid, but will fancy their chances against the likes of Sporting Lisbon, Inter Milan, Benfica and RB Salzburg.

From a storyline perspective ties with PSG (constant links with their manager) and RB Salzburg (Rangnick’s return to former club) would perhaps offer the most interesting games.

Rangnick reached the semi-finals of the UCL back in 2011 with Schalke, eventually losing to Sir Alex Ferguson’s United in the last four.

With a league triumph looking unlikely, United fans will be hoping for a strong showing in this competition, maybe going all the way under their German maestro.

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