Barcelona will play Arsenal in the last 16 of the Champions League, ten years after the sides faced each other in the final, following today’s draw for the first knockout stage.
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Chelsea board member David Barnard does not believe domestic form will be a factor when the Premier League title-holders renew acquaintances with Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.
Paris Saint-Germain will play Chelsea; Eindhoven will face Atletico Madrid, Dynamo Kiev will play Manchester City, Gent will face Wolfsburg and finally Benfica will play Zenit St. Petersburg.
ARSENAL CLUB SECRETARY David Miles conceded being paired with Barcelona in the Champions League was not the draw the club’s fans – or his family – wanted.
The Gunners would be convinced they could replicate that display again when Barcelona come to visit, with the first game of the tie being in London and crucial to their hopes of progressing.
“We have a few injured players, so if we can get those back and play them with a full-strength Arsenal side we’ve got some world-class players of our own and I’m hoping we’ll put on a very good show in the two legs”. “We must have maximum respect for Arsenal”, Soler said.
Familiarity, they say, breeds contempt, and you could understand if Monday’s Champions League draw was greeted with at the very least some frustration, and no little trepidation, by London’s two representatives in the competition.
Former Champions League victor Borussia Dortmund and Porto also meet while exciting ties feature Olympique de Marseille against Athletic Bilbao, Anderlecht vs. Olympiakos Piraeus, Shakhtar Donetsk against Schalke 04 and Lazio vs. Galatasaray.
Regardless of the empty terraces, City’s director of football Txiki Begiristain warned of any complacency.
Juventus, which lost to Barcelona in the Champions final last June, was arguably the group runner-up to avoid.
Last year, when the Blues won the English Premiership crown at a canter, they were knocked out by the French outfit at the same stage, on the away-goals rule.
While the Gunners gave the Spanish giants a run for their money in the 2006 Champions League final, more recent clashes have been straightforward for the Catalans.
But there was a notable downside as they will not be allowed any support at the first leg in Ukraine on February 24.
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PSG, meanwhile, is unbeaten in 18 games in Ligue 1 in the 2015-16 season, and has an apparently impregnable 17-point lead over Angers. Return legs are on 8-9 and 15-16 March.
