Familiar Foes To Meet Again In Champions League
European champions Real Madrid will face Schalke 04, Barcelona will play Manchester City and Chelsea will play Paris St Germain in three tie...
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European champions Real Madrid will face Schalke 04, Barcelona will play Manchester City and Chelsea will play Paris St Germain in three ties repeated from last season following the draw for the Champions league last 16 made on Monday.
Real Madrid knocked Schalke out of the last 16 last season 9-2 on aggregate, Barcelona beat Manchester City 4-1 while Chelsea beat PSG on away goals in the quarter-finals.
Last week Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said he would welcome being drawn against PSG "because it will be easy for our fans to travel to Paris" -- and he got his wish when Karl-Heinz Riedle drew the pair together.
Riedle, who performed the draw in his role as ambassador for Berlin, the venue for this season's final on June 6 and who scored twice when his Borussia Dortmund team beat Juventus 3-1 in the 1997 final, also drew those two clubs together.
Last season's beaten finalists Atletico Madrid face Bayer Leverkusen in another Spain-Germany match-up.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will face his old club AS Monaco in a competitive match for the first time while five-time winners Bayern Munich take on Shakhtar Donetsk.
Swiss club FC Basel play Porto.
Real Madrid crushed Schalke in last season's Round of 16 and club director Emilio Butragueno told Spanish TV broadcaster Canal Plus: "Let's say that we are rather optimistic.
"We have the experience from last season, a very, very good experience when we essentially won the tie in the first leg."
Real beat Schalke 6-1 in the first leg and 3-1 in the second leg last season en route to their 10th European Cup success.
After drawing English champions Manchester City, Barca sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta told Canal Plus: "It's a great tie against a great rival, a team we know extremely well.
"There is still a long way to go until February and let's see what shape each team is in when the tie comes around, but
for sure it's going to be a great tie with two great matches."
City director of football and former Barcelona player Txiki Begiristain told Sky Sports News: "Every tie in that draw is the same, it's fantastic, so we're looking forward to it.
"We have improved our squad from last season and we have some real quality up front."
The first legs will be played on Feb.17/18 and Feb. 24/25 with the second legs being played on March 10/11 and March 17/18 next year. The final is in Berlin on June 6.
Source: Reuters Africa
Real Madrid knocked Schalke out of the last 16 last season 9-2 on aggregate, Barcelona beat Manchester City 4-1 while Chelsea beat PSG on away goals in the quarter-finals.
Last week Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said he would welcome being drawn against PSG "because it will be easy for our fans to travel to Paris" -- and he got his wish when Karl-Heinz Riedle drew the pair together.
Riedle, who performed the draw in his role as ambassador for Berlin, the venue for this season's final on June 6 and who scored twice when his Borussia Dortmund team beat Juventus 3-1 in the 1997 final, also drew those two clubs together.
Last season's beaten finalists Atletico Madrid face Bayer Leverkusen in another Spain-Germany match-up.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will face his old club AS Monaco in a competitive match for the first time while five-time winners Bayern Munich take on Shakhtar Donetsk.
Swiss club FC Basel play Porto.
Real Madrid crushed Schalke in last season's Round of 16 and club director Emilio Butragueno told Spanish TV broadcaster Canal Plus: "Let's say that we are rather optimistic.
"We have the experience from last season, a very, very good experience when we essentially won the tie in the first leg."
Real beat Schalke 6-1 in the first leg and 3-1 in the second leg last season en route to their 10th European Cup success.
After drawing English champions Manchester City, Barca sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta told Canal Plus: "It's a great tie against a great rival, a team we know extremely well.
"There is still a long way to go until February and let's see what shape each team is in when the tie comes around, but
for sure it's going to be a great tie with two great matches."
City director of football and former Barcelona player Txiki Begiristain told Sky Sports News: "Every tie in that draw is the same, it's fantastic, so we're looking forward to it.
"We have improved our squad from last season and we have some real quality up front."
The first legs will be played on Feb.17/18 and Feb. 24/25 with the second legs being played on March 10/11 and March 17/18 next year. The final is in Berlin on June 6.
Source: Reuters Africa
