The draw for the UEFA Champions League last 16 took place yesterday and it certainly produced some mouthwatering ties. The first games will take place the last Tuesday and Wednesday of February (24th & 25th) with the return legs taking place two weeks later (Mar 10th & 11th). Here is the full draw:

Chelsea v Juventus

Villarreal v Panathinaikos

Sporting Lisbon v Bayern Munich

Atletico Madrid v FC Porto

Lyon v Barcelona

Real Madrid v Liverpool

Arsenal v Roma

Inter Milan v Manchester United

Told you there were some great ties!

The current champions Manchester United and Alex Ferguson face their old friend Jose Mourinho and his Inter Milan side who were knocked out by Liverpool last year at the same stage.

The former Chelsea manager had made it clear that he wanted to draw an English club and he wasn’t disappointed, with the first leg to be played at the San Siro.

The tie will revive memories of Mourinho’s famous celebration down the touchline at Old Trafford back in March 2004 when Costinha’s last-minute equaliser for Porto sent United crashing out of the Champions League. Of course Mourinho and Porto went on the win the trophy that season beating Monaco in the final.

Sir Alex Ferguson will no doubt be looking forward to the tie as well and said, “It’s interesting to come up against Jose again. He’s a character with a good personality and I’ve always got on well with him.

“He’s knocked us out of the competition with Porto, so I hope we have the luck they had in that tie this time round.”

Mourinho hasn’t wasted any time in the psychological word games by talking up Man Utd. He said, “I am satisfied, I wanted the best and I have got the European champions who maybe in two days will be world champions.

“It is a team with the current Ballon D’Or winner [Ronaldo], a great coach in Alex Ferguson and a stadium with a fantastic atmosphere. It will be unforgettable returning to Manchester. Some say I have a good record against Alex Ferguson but the record isn’t mine, it’s Chelsea’s.”

Meanwhile Liverpool were drawn a mouthwatering tie and will play current Spanish champions Real Madrid and their new manager, ex Tottenham, Juande Ramos. Former Tottenham boss Ramos has only just taken over at the Bernabeu and will no doubt be looking forward to his return to England with 9 times winner Real Madrid. Liverpool have the perceived advantage of the second leg at Anfield due to finishing their group on top.

The tie is of course a of the 1981 Paris final, which the English side won 1-0 thanks to a goal by defender Alan Kennedy. That was the last time these two giants of European football have met in a competitive game.

Ramos said, “I know Liverpool perfectly. I know how difficult they are and the difficulties they are going to present us, but I think it will be an exciting tie. Real Madrid don’t have to fear anybody. We know that they are a difficult opponent but that we are going to have as much a chance of winning as them.”

The draw also provided Italian coach Claudio Ranieri the chance of an emotional return to Stamford Bridge, to his his former club Chelsea, as Juventus were paired with last season’s beaten finalists.

Ranieri was a popular figure at Stamford Bridge before being replaced by non other than Jose Mourinho in 2004. This despite Ranieri guiding them to the Champions League semi-final, where they lost to Monaco, who as mentioned above were then beaten by Mourinho and Porto.

Ranieri said, “This triple Anglo-Italian challenge is fascinating. And from our perspective, we’ll try to keep Chelsea off the top of the world where Abramovich wants to lead them. Chelsea are focused on winning the Champions League, for Abramovich it would be a disaster not to win it.

“It’s a great challenge. I wouldn’t say I’m happy but it will be a fascinating match, we’ll need to be on top of our game. You cannot forget four years at a club. I don’t think Chelsea forget either.”

Someone else who is looking forward to the tie is Chelsea’s assistant manager Ray Wilkins, who feels that Juventus will present a stiffer challenge than Roma, who the Blues played in the Group stages.

Wilkins has said, “Roma were a big test for us but I think Juventus are a better team, they are higher than Roma in the table. Juventus will be well organised, they have some good players, none more so than Alessandro Del Piero who seems to have been reborn this year. Pavel Nedved is still going strong at 36 and he can hurt you. They are playing in quite a small stadium but the atmosphere will be fantastic and I am looking forward to it.”

Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal will have the first leg at home as they take on AS Roma. The Arsenal manager said, “Of course we have a great chance of winning the competition, like any team at that level.

“But now the Champions League becomes a different competition, like a cup competition. If you miss five minutes of the 180, you are out.”

His opposite number, Roma coach Luciano Spalletti said: “That does me just fine. There’s no point in talking about it now we must simply show what we’re made of and how we’re prepared to make sacrifices.

“To Arsenal I want to congratulate them for their system. They have many young players on their way to becoming great players who are being chased by all the big clubs in Europe.”

Despite all this both Arsenal and Chelsea will have breathed a huge sigh of relief as the draw was made as they could have been paired with the current favourites Barcelona. They will have been extremely happy to have avoided the Catalans however, as mentioned above both Arsenal and Chelsea face difficult ties against AS Roma and Juventus respectively.

The team to get Barcelona however were the French champions Lyon and looking ahead to the game, their sporting director Bernard Lacombe admitted: “I am very worried. Lyon couldn’t have found a worse adversary. Barca has the best players in Europe in its squad. It’s mission impossible, equivalent to you asking me to jump over the crossbar with both feet tied.”

“They are a team with many qualities, a team made in the image of their coach: tough, with good players in attack, in defence, in goal…they are quite a complete team.”

Well, at least he’s honest! And I couldn’t have summed it up better myself. However, after all that Lyon will probably go on to knock Barcelona out now!

Here’s the current voting on The Soccer Blog of who are readers believe will go on to win the famous trophy:

I can’t wait!

Cheers

Rik

If you would like to rate this article please simply click on the appropriate star below, many thanks!

(4 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
 Loading ...

Related Posts

1. The Draw For The Group Stages Of The Champions League
2. Champions League Round Up Tuesday Week 5
3. UEFA Champions League Final Group Games Review
4. UEFA Champions League Returns
5. UEFA Champions League Quarter & Semi Final Draw