Barcelona said they are also expecting a hard tie.
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Fernandez, now in Japan with Barca for their Club World Cup campaign, said: “It’s an open and hard tie”.
“Arsenal are at a good level, but so are all the teams that get this far”.
PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi saw the French outfit extend their unbeaten start to the domestic season with a crushing 5-1 victory over Lyon on Sunday, but knows a stern test lays ahead – starting with Chelsea – on the club’s path to their ultimate goal of European glory.
“They have shown they are a good team and for us the challenge is to improve in this competition and move forward”.
“Chelsea were clearly the favourites the last two times we played, but I think it is 50-50 this season”. Here we will be coming up against a fine team who have already won the Champions League. “Last year, I would have taken it all day long because Chelsea were playing wonderfully well but this year I didn’t want that at all”, he continued. We have a lot of respect for them. “Everyone has weak points, and our job is to find them”. In the aftermath of that game, Ibrahimovic – known for his blatant statements – had accused Chelsea players of being crybabies.
Also, five-time champions Bayern Munich will play away first against 2015 runners-up Juventus, while record 10-time champions Real Madrid will face Roma.
Wolfsburg and PSV Eindhoven, the two sides that qualified at Manchester United’s expense, were paired with Ghent and Atletico Madrid respectively. Benfica face Zenit St Petersburg.
The most recent meeting came in 2011, when Arsenal won the home leg 2-1 but ended up losing 4-3 in the last-16 clash.
PSG are strong contenders for both Ligue 1 and the Champions League but Blanc believes they have to take it one step at a time.
The Gunners face the Catalans int he Champions League last sixteen. Looking at last season, it’s theirs.
Valencia v Rapid Wien. So, in this phase of the Champions League there are no favourites. Their former defender Rio Ferdinand described their demise as “embarrassing” last week.
“Football fans will enjoy themselves, we’re two sides that play similar styles with a similar understanding of the game”, he told UEFA.com.
“I was so happy this morning knowing that we wouldn’t have Barcelona again!” “This game is something special”.
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Meanwhile, Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp will head back to Germany in the Europa League’s round of 32, though he avoided his old team. After complaining of hayfever in the first leg, he was red-carded for a high kick in the return.
