Their biggest clash came in the 2006 final in Paris, where Sol Campbell gave 10-man Arsenal the lead before Barcelona scored two late goals through Samuel Eto’o and Juliano Belletti to land the trophy.
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Premier League rivals Chelsea, who have had a tough start to the season, were also handed a hard assignment as they were paired with Paris Saint-Germain for the third year in succession.
Barcelona director of sporting institutional relations Albert Soler said he was looking forward to “a very attractive game”.
Chelsea are a great team who have already won the Champions League.
If the French champions want to be considered as one of Europe’s elite clubs, this is a fixture they need to win, and perhaps, without the aid of away goals.
PSG overcame Chelsea at the same stage last season before suffering a 5-1 aggregate loss to Barcelona.
Despite Chelsea’s struggles in the Premier League this season, PSG defender Thiago said: “It will be tougher this season than a year ago”.
Also, it was PSV Eindhoven against Atletico Madrid; Dynamo Kiev versus Manchester City; and Benfica against Zenit St. Petersburg.
Wolfsburg, who dumped out Manchester United to reach the knockout phase for the first time, will meet competition debutants Gent.
After Olivier Giroud’s hat-trick against Olympiacos last Wednesday propelled Arsenal out of the group stages for a 16th consecutive season, some Gunners were led to wonder whether it could finally be their year. “If we see ourselves as favorites, things won’t go well for us”, Real Madrid soccer director Emilio Butragueno said.
“They [Kiev] have a good side and it will be hard for us”.
“They are a strong side, but they like to play football and it is just 11 v 11”.
PSG have two more games before they are given a fortnight off, while Chelsea will compete in four matches before entering 2016.
Juventus, which lost to Barcelona in the Champions final last June, was arguably the group runner-up to avoid. Roma knocked Madrid out in the 2007/08 round of 16, winning 2-1 both home and away.
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The Europa League may appear underwhelming but is important in maintaining English football’s coefficient-the system used by UEFA to determine the number of Champions League places allocated to each nation. Return legs on March 8-9 and March 15-16.
