A look at Barça's possible Champions League rivals: Basel, Bayern, Chelsea, Porto or Shakhtar

Los jugadores del Barça sabrán el próximo 11 de diciembre su rival de los octavos de final de la Champions 2017/18 | Marc Casanovas

David Salinas

07/12/2017 Upd. at 13:59 CET

Chelsea are Barcelona's most likely opponent in the next round

The draw takes place next week and the ties played in February and March

The Champions League group stage is over for another year and we have 16 teams left in the competition. Going into the knockout rounds, Barcelona will be drawn against one of the five following runners-up: Basel, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Porto or Shakhtar Donetsk.

The draw will take place on Monday, Dec. 11 from 12.00 in Nyon, Switzerland. Group winners will be drawn against the second-placed teams with two conditions: you can't draw a team from the same country (Barça avoid Real Madrid and Sevilla) and you can't face a team from the same group (Barça avoid Juventus).

As for the days, the first leg of the round-of-16 will be spread across Feb. 13, 14, 20 and 21. The return legs will be played on March 6, 7, 13 and 14.

Barça's chances of drawing Chelsea are high. The team from Stamford Bridge cannot face any of Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City or Tottenham, all group winners, because they're from the same country. Neither can they be drawn against Roma, as they were in the same group as the Italians.

The Catalan side have played all their possible rivals before in the knockout rounds, with the exception of Basel, who they met in the group stages in 2008-09.

They've knocked Bayern out twice (2009 and 2015) and lost to them twice (1996 in the UEFA Cup and 2013). Against Chelsea, Barça's record is 4-2, against Porto 3-1 and against Shakhtar 3-0: A Cup Winners Cup knockout game, a Super Cup final and a Champions League quarterfinal.

Chelsea

Antonio Conte's side have a lot of stars, many well-known by Barça. Starting with ex-Blaugrana players Cesc Fabregas and Pedro, continuing with Thibaut Courtois (ex-Atletico), Alvaro Morata (ex-Real Madrid) and their most well-known player, Eden Hazard.

The Blues are third in the Premier League with 32 points, three less than Manchester United, but a long way back from Pep Guardiola's league leaders, Manchester City, who have 43 points.

The English side finished second in their group behind Roma, with Atletico knocked into the Europa League.

Bayern MUnich

The Bundesliga leaders are a solid and experienced side. Veteran coach Jupp Heynckes returned to take charge earlier this season after Carlo Ancelotti was sacked. They lead the German league by six points and have a great squad: Ribéry, Lewandowski, Thiago, James Rodríguez, Arturo Vidal, Hummels, Álaba, Coman, Müller...

Shakhtar

Shakhtar Donetsk, coached by Paulo Fonseca, have a samba beat. They play 4-2-3-1 and as well as veterans such as goalkeeper Pyatov and defender Srna (147 European games), they have seven Brazilians in their squad: Ismaily, Azevedo, Taison, Fred, Dentinho, Bernard and Alan Patrick.

Porto

Under Sergio Conceiçao, Porto lead the Portuguese league along with Sporting (33 points) and haven't lost a domestic game yet. They play 4-3-3 and their most well-known players are Iker Casillas (ex-Real Madrid) and Oliver Torres (ex-Atletico). Striker Aboubakar is their danger man.