Champions League cup holders Manchester United will face Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan in the first of the knockout stages of the competition, with the games to take place on February 24/25 and March 10/11.
Last years runners up, Chelsea are paired with Juventus, who are managed by former blues boss Claudio Ranieri, who should get a huge welcome from the Stamford Bridge fans.
Liverpool, currently on top of the Premier league face a struggling Real Madrid side in what should be an outstanding game if Juande Ramos can succeed in lifting the Spanish champions from their recent bad spell.
Arsenal will play AS Roma so there will be four hard contests for the English teams to overcome if they are to progress en masse into the quarter finals.
Last seasons only non English semi finalists Barcelona will play Olympique Lyon of France, while fellow La Liga team Villareal face the Greek side Panathinaikos an Atletico Madrid play Porto. The final pairing will see Sporting take on Bayern Munich.
Some cracking games in store, especially for the Premier League teams, I wonder what the odds are for going one better than last season and having all four semi final places filled by the English sides.
3 comments so far
1 Edward Monkton // Dec 20, 2008 at 8:58 am
Great draw. I’m not confident that all four English teams will make it through to the quater-finals, let alone the semis. Looking forward to seeing Mourinho return to face Ferguson. I think Inter will beat Man Utd over two legs. And after watching Roma massacre Chelsea in Rome, don’t fancy Arsenal’s chances at all.
2 Dave Stopher // Dec 22, 2008 at 1:41 pm
I think that this year the champions league will be won by a lower team this year!!
3 Watch Football Highlights // Dec 24, 2008 at 1:20 pm
What a match that would be! Jose and Alex face to face!