Defending champions lurk in the fourth pot before the Last 16 draw

While some teams had known their seeding for the Tuesday's Last 16 draw already before the last round of the VELUX EHF Champions League Group Phase, only the last match day and the very last two of the 120 group phase matches completed the distribution of all knockout stage tickets and seeding of all teams.

The draw of the VELUX EHF Champions League Last 16 will take place on Tuesday, 24 February, at 12:30 hrs local time at the Gartenhotel Altmannsdorf 2 in Vienna and it will be live streamed on ehfTV.com with commentary from Tom O Brannagain.

Who to draw the short straw?

Three participants of the last VELUX EHF FINAL4 - runners-up THW Kiel, record winners FC Barcelona and the fourth team of the last season MKB-MVM Veszprem made it to the top pot, together with Vive Tauron Kielce, who finished third in the 2013 edition.

One of the favourites will have to face the defending champions SG Flensburg-Handewitt, who were eyeing the Pot 2 finish before the last round, however they had to settle for the Pot 4 after their Sunday's defeat at the hands of Orlen Wisla Plock.

There will be no protection from the teams of the same country at the draw, which means that a reunion of the last year's all-German final rivals Flensburg and THW Kiel is possible.

Four times at the draw a fourth ranked teams of the group phase will be pulled against a first ranked team except against the winner of its own group of the group phase. The fourth ranked teams will host the first leg of the Last 16.

Lion's den in Pot 3

The remaining four pairings will be determined after a third ranked team of the group phase will be drawn against against a second ranked team four times. Again, the teams from the same group cannot meet.

PSG Handball and KIF Kolding Kobenhavn made it to the second pot for the second year in a row as HC Vardar and MOL-Pick Szeged accompany them. All four of the runners-up will face a formidable opposition from Pot 3. Orlen Wisla Plock, who beat not only Flensburg, but also FC Barcelona this season are joined by three teams who have a lion in their club's crest or in their moniker – Zagreb, Rhein-Neckar and Dunkerque.

The first leg is scheduled for 11-15 March, the second leg will be played 18-22 March. The winning  teams of the Last 16 qualify for the quarter-finals.

Overview of pots for the VELUX EHF Champions League Last 16 draw:

Pot 1
THW Kiel (GER)
FC Barcelona (ESP)
MKB-MVM Veszprém (HUN)
Vive Tauron Kielce (POL)

Pot 2
PSG Handball (FRA)
KIF Kolding Kobenhavn (DEN)
HC Vardar (MKD)
MOL-Pick Szeged (HUN)

Pot 3
RK PPD Zagreb (CRO)
Orlen Wisla Plock (POL)
Rhein-Neckar Löwen (GER)
Dunkerque HB Grand Littoral (FRA)

Pot 4
Naturhouse La Rioja (ESP)
SG Flensburg-Handewitt (GER)
Montpellier Agglomeration HB (FRA)
Aalborg Handball (DEN)

Where to follow

On ehfTV.com there will be live streaming of the draw followed by interviews and reactions from the clubs' representatives.

The live ticker of the draw will go live on Tuesday morning on eurohandball.com and the event will also be extensively covered on the official Twitter channel of the VELUX EHF Champions League @ehfcl.