The Champions League draw held in Nyon, Switzerland just a couple of hours ago has resulted in some of the most anticipated clashes in the last 16 of the Champions League; none more so than Arsenal V Barcelona.
The Gunners will definitely have revenge on their agenda when they face their nemesis from last year's competition that they lost to Josep Guardiola’s side 6-3 on aggregate in the quarter finals. Moreover, having lost the final of the competition in 2006
against the same side, Arsenal will be looking to exact revenge on their superior rivals.
It surely will be the plum tie among the last 16; with two free flowing teams taking on one another. The draw is a little harsh on Arsenal but they only have themselves to blame after they finished second in their group to Shakhtar Donetsk.
Arsenal’s London counterparts Chelsea should be the happiest with the draw as they are paired against FC Copenhagen of Denmark, who've became the first ever side from Denmark to have made it this far in the competition.
Manchester United will also be relatively content with their draw after being paired with Olympique Marseille for their clash in the last 16 of the competition they won just two years ago.
Manchester United only met Marseille in the Champions League a few years ago when they drew their home leg 1-1 while losing the away fixture 3-1 and thus will have to be careful when they travel to France in February.
Tottenham Hotspurs have been flying high in this competition and along with Arsenal they are the top scorers in the competition having plundered 18 goals in the group stages. Spurs have been awarded another trip to the Italian fashion capital but this time
they will be facing AC Milan at the San Siro.
The Spurs were paired with Inter Milan in their group and on their travel to the Giusseppe Meazza they came away with a respectable 4-3 loss after having gone down 4-0 in the opening 30 minutes of the game.
Gareth Bale was their hero on the day as the Welshman grabbed a sensation second half hat trick to see his side come home with their reputation intact.
Spurs had their revenge in the home leg beating the defending champions 3-1 with Gareth Bale again being the star of the show.
But AC Milan will be a different ball game for Harry’s men as they like to keep the ball and play at their own pace.
In the other matches of the last 16 stage AS Roma of Italy will face Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine while Spain’s Valencia will be taking on FC Schalke of Germany.
Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid have Lyon of France blocking their path to the last 8 of the competition and after having already lost to the same side at the same stage of the competition. Jose will be hoping that he can turn things around this time by guiding
his side past the Frenchgiants.
According to the stipulated rules of the competition, the runners up from every group will play the first leg at home which means that Real Madrid, Manchester United, Tottenham, Shakhtar Donetsk, Barcelona, Chelsea, Schalke and Bayern Munich will have the
advantage of playing the second leg of their last 16 tie at home.
The first legs will be played on February 15/16/22/23 with the second legs taking place on March 8/9/15/16
The draw for the last 16 is as follows:
Roma v Shakhtar Donetsk
AC Milan v Tottenham Hotspur
Valencia v Schalke
Inter Milan v Bayern Munich
Lyon v Real Madrid
Arsenal v Barcelona
Marseille v Manchester United
FC Copenhagen v Chelsea
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