The draw for the Champions League round of 16 was held on Friday and it was hardly kind to English Premier League teams as all four drew difficult opponents, with Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal all drawing tough Italian competition.
Defending champions Manchester United will take on Inter Milan in what is easily the best match-up of the pre-quarterfinal round. Chelsea will take on former Chelsea manager Claudio Rainieri and Juventus. Erratic Arsenal will take on suddenly in-form AS Roma.
French champions Lyon received the difficult task of facing red-hot Barcelona, widely-regarded as the favorite to win this tournament.
Here is the full draw:
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Manchester United vs. Inter Milan
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Chelsea vs. Juventus
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Villarreal vs. Panathanaikos
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Sporting Lisbon vs. Bayern Munich
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Atletico Madrid vs. FC Porto
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Lyon vs. FC Barcelona
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Real Madrid vs. Liverpool
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Arsenal vs. AS Roma
These teams will square off on February 24/25 in the first leg and March 10/11 in the second leg.
Which match-up are you most looking forward to? Which team do you think got the easiest draw? Which individual match-up stands out in your mind?
Share your thoughts on the Champions League Draw in the comments section below.
Liverpool
Villareal will go through!
People, please don’t forget that the next round does not start for TWO MONTHS and that there could be new players or injuries at several of these clubs. TWO MONTHS is a lot of time to change where a team is or where a team is heading.
To who ever chose Arsenal over Roma… I think you may be on some serious drugs. Roma will murder them. The Olimpico will scare the tits out of the young gunners. Cesc will get cancelled out completely by Daniele De Rossi.
Going to be fun to watch for us Roma fans.
Inter Milan
Juventus
Villarreal
Bayern Munich
Atletico Madrid
FC Barcelona
Liverpool
Arsenal
Spain got some pretty good draws. Real will have a really tough go against a great Liverpool side but otherwise they were matched up against some of the “weaker” teams. That being said those are still going to be very tough games and the teams from La Liga will have to be vigilant and play to their strengths to win.
Heres to the potential of four Spanish sides in the final eight!
Roma will roll.. Totti and Menez will love the Arsenal D
United, Juve, Villarreal, Bayern, Atletico, Barca, Liverpool, and Roma to advance.
The ties I’m most looking forward to are Liverpool/Real and especially Aresnal/Roma.
This is the best first round of games in the knockout phase that I can remember. Depending on the results, Italy or England should have bragging rights as to which country has the best league in Europe. I’m thrilled that Sir Alex and The Special One can go at it again.
drfg
I have
Inter over United
Juventus over Chelsea
Villarreal over Pana
Bayern over Sporting
FC Porto over Atletico
Barcelona over Lyon
Liverpool over real
Roma over Arsenal
I think its a 50/50 with Inter but i gave it to them just cause i dont like united.
“I am looking forward to watching Landon tear up Sporting Lisbon’s D!”
Ribery’s first name isnt Landon.
Man Utd def. Inter
Juve def. Chelsea
Villarreal def. Panathinaikos
Bayern def. Sporting
Porto def. Atletico
Barca def. Lyon
Liverpool def. Real
Roma def. Arsenal
alot of people not giving love to Juve…. no worries, they’ve been solid all CL… they are just as solid in Serie A… they are flying high and will be a force to be reckoned with…..
saying that, i am not doubting Chelsea’s chance of beating Juve… either side could be victorious…
I was really hoping Lyon wouldn’t draw Barca. I’d love to see Juninho make a deep CL run before Benzema moves on, few teams have had a better collection of talent move through.
I’m most looking forward to Chelsea/Juve on the pitch which could be a classic, but I can’t wait for the “I’m on Setanta Sports” ramifications of the Inter-ManU match up.
It’s still not official Landycakes is going. If he does go, he then has to be submitted onto Munich’s official CL roster before he would be eligible.
Good to see that Juve’s punishment for match-fixing had such long-lasting effects.
Depending on Lando’s loan…I’ll be pulling for the Yanks Abroad teams…Villareal and Bayern.
Inter Milan over United
Chelsea over Juventus
Villarreal over Panathanaikos
Bayern Munich over Sporting Lisbon
Atletico Madrid over FC Porto
FC Barcelona over Lyon
Real Madrid over Liverpool
Roma over Arsenal
Next Round:
Inter, Chelsea, Villareal, Bayern, Atheltico, Barca, Real, Roma
Is Landon even eligible?
Liverpool will have a tough game with Madrid but should come out on top with the 1st game easily. And advance.
Angel, change InterMilan’s name into Ibra. They should put 1o nbrs on his shoulders: the goalkeeper launches the ball and Ibra scores. that’s the Special One module so far.
Poor Arenal instead ;o))
Lyon will never win anything…
I am looking forward to watching Landon tear up Sporting Lisbon’s D!
Wow this round of the Champions is going to be a good one and I can’t wait to see my team go to the next round. here are my pick see if I can predict the winners.
1) Inter Milan
2) Chelsea
3) Villarreal
4) Bayern Munich
5) Atletico Madrid
6) FC Barcelona
7) Liverpool
8) Arsenal
Roma Arsenal looks to be a good match given current form of Roma.
Also, Lyon and Barcelona should provide some goals! And, Real Madrid vs Liverpool should be closely fought.
On the other hand the draw wasn’t good for Italian clubs either. I’m glad that there are some exciting match-ups, but some big clubs will be going out relatively early.
Being a Chelsea fan, I am very worried that Juve is going to take us out.