Barcelona, aiming to be the first title holder to retain the trophy in the 24-year Champions League era, is in the pot of eight seeded group winners.PAU BARRENA/AFP / Getty Images
A stronger elite and a bigger spread of countries stand out in Monday's draw for the Champions League first knockout round.
European soccer's Big Three of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich – the past three winners – stand out from the competition.
Still, two debutants at this Round of 16 stage – Wolfsburg and Gent, the true underdog – give the draw a fresher look with a record 10 nations represented.
Gent has ended Belgium's 15-year absence and PSV Eindhoven returns after a nine-year gap for the Netherlands.
Barcelona, aiming to be the first title holder to retain the trophy in the 24-year Champions League era, is in the pot of eight seeded group winners, including Madrid and Bayern.
Even missing Lionel Messi for three of its six group matches, Barcelona advanced easily and unbeaten as superstar forward partners Neymar and Luis Suarez stepped up.
Barcelona is the one to avoid for the unseeded group runners-up, though the five-time champion will not want a rematch of last season's final against Juventus.
Madrid and Bayern have each scored 19 goals so far in the competition, and Cristiano Ronaldo's group-stage record of 11 built an eight-goal gap on Messi in their duel for the all-time competition record.
Paris Saint-Germain matched a Champions League best by conceding only one goal in its group, won by Madrid, and is a dangerous option for the other seeded teams.
Wolfsburg and Zenit St. Petersburg both impressed as group winners though both teams, if only judged by reputation, rate as easier options in a seeded pot that features Manchester City for the first time.
Among unseeded teams, Arsenal is in the draw for the 16th straight year and Dynamo Kyiv returns after a 16-year gap.
Coach Serhiy Rebrov was a player on the last Dynamo team to advance from the groups.
Dynamo cannot be paired with Zenit due to a UEFA rule separating Ukrainian and Russian teams during ongoing political tension between the nations.
At this stage, teams cannot be drawn against opponents from their home country or a group opponent.
The draw is open for the quarterfinals onward.
Seeded teams will be drawn to play away in the first legs, scheduled on Feb. 16 and 17 and Feb. 23 and 24.
Return matches are on March 8 and 9 and March 15 and 16.
Each team has already earned up to €20-million ($22-million U.S.) prize money from UEFA and will get an extra €5.5-million ($6-million U.S.) for playing in the round of 16.
The final is played on May 28 at San Siro stadium in Milan.