The stats suggest Arsenal and Leicester City will benefit from topping their respective Champions League groups.
The Gunners have been knocked out at the last 16 stage of the competition in each of the last six seasons. In five of those years, they faced knockout ties against group winners after finishing runners-up in their pool.
However, victory over Basel and a shock draw between PSG and Ludogorets helped Arsenal finish top of Group A, while Leicester were guaranteed top spot in Group G before being thrashed by Porto in their final game.
A Sky Sports study into Champions League finalists since 2003/04 – when the competition took on its current format – highlights the importance of a good group-stage performance.
Ten out of 13 Champions League winners in that time have won their pool. In fact, 21 of 26 finalists topped their group, as did 40 out of 52 semi-finalists.
It’s a compelling trend which highlights the importance of coming out on top of the round-robin phase.
Arsenal’s best run in the competition in 2005/06, where they lost 2-1 to Barcelona in the final, came after they had won their group. Liverpool (2007), Chelsea (2008, 2012) and Manchester United (2008, 2009, 2011) also launched their charges to the final on the back of group-stage success.
Liverpool are one of just three teams since 2003/04 to win the Champions League after finishing runners-up in their group
Manchester City, who finished second behind Barcelona in Group C, will hope to follow in the footsteps of three sides who achieved European glory after finishing runners-up.
Jose Mourinho’s 2004 winners Porto, Liverpool’s Istanbul heroes of 2005 and Mourinho’s treble-winning Inter Milan in 2010 are the only second-placed teams to go on to win the competition in its current guise.
In a rare quirk, Inter’s final win came over Bayern Munich, who had also finished second in their pool.
But last season both finalists, Atletico Madrid and winners Real Madrid, had won their group, and Arsenal and Leicester will be hoping to avoid Bayern Munich and Real when the draw for the last 16 is made on Monday.
Join GhanaStar.com to receive daily email alerts of breaking news in Ghana. GhanaStar.com is your source for all Ghana News. Get the latest Ghana news, breaking news, sports, politics, entertainment and more about Ghana, Africa and beyond.