Cristiano Ronaldo is all set to return to Old Trafford as Real Madrid were drawn against his old side in the last 16 of the Champions League. It will also pit Jose Mourinho against Sir Alex Ferguson in the most mouthwatering tie of the first knock-out round of Europe's top club competition.
The only other English side Arsenal will face last season's beaten finalists Bayern Munich while Celtic will take on Italian champions Juventus as they look for a place in the quarter-finals.
Barcelona will take on familiar foes AC Milan with the first leg at the San Siro. Their most recent encounter was in the quarter-finals last season, when Barca prevailed 3-1 on aggregate.
German champions Borussia Dortmund face a tricky clash with Shakhtar Donetsk while local rivals Schalke take on Galatasaray.
Paris St Germain will fancy their chances of beating Valencia, and Malaga, who are performing better in the Primera Division, meet Portuguese champions Porto.
Celtic boss Neil Lennon called his side's draw against Juventus "a beauty" but very tough.
Lennon said: "Well in terms of glamour it's a beauty. Juventus are one of the great traditional European teams. They're current Italian champions and finished the group stage very strongly. So in terms of glamour it's great, in terms of qualification it is going to very tough, but it could have been any of the other teams and it would have been just as tough.
"We will take it as it comes, we're looking forward to the games now and I'm sure our supporters will be as well.
"We believe over two games anything is possible. Juventus are littered with world-class stars and have been very consistent over the last 18 months and have got a great winning mentality, but so have we.
"To come through the group as impressively as we did, you just never know where you'll be in a month or two's time in terms of fitness and form."
We will wait to see what the other managers feel about the draw and how they fare come February 12th.
The only other English side Arsenal will face last season's beaten finalists Bayern Munich while Celtic will take on Italian champions Juventus as they look for a place in the quarter-finals.
Barcelona will take on familiar foes AC Milan with the first leg at the San Siro. Their most recent encounter was in the quarter-finals last season, when Barca prevailed 3-1 on aggregate.
German champions Borussia Dortmund face a tricky clash with Shakhtar Donetsk while local rivals Schalke take on Galatasaray.
Paris St Germain will fancy their chances of beating Valencia, and Malaga, who are performing better in the Primera Division, meet Portuguese champions Porto.
Celtic boss Neil Lennon called his side's draw against Juventus "a beauty" but very tough.
Lennon said: "Well in terms of glamour it's a beauty. Juventus are one of the great traditional European teams. They're current Italian champions and finished the group stage very strongly. So in terms of glamour it's great, in terms of qualification it is going to very tough, but it could have been any of the other teams and it would have been just as tough.
"We will take it as it comes, we're looking forward to the games now and I'm sure our supporters will be as well.
"We believe over two games anything is possible. Juventus are littered with world-class stars and have been very consistent over the last 18 months and have got a great winning mentality, but so have we.
"To come through the group as impressively as we did, you just never know where you'll be in a month or two's time in terms of fitness and form."
We will wait to see what the other managers feel about the draw and how they fare come February 12th.
No comments:
Post a Comment