Arsenal to face Barca, Juve will play Bayern in Champions League draw

There are numerous stages of grief, and Arsenal’s website was firmly stuck on the denial phase when news broke of their last-16 Champions League tie against Barcelona.

Chelsea and Arsenal have been handed the “toughest” draws in the Champions League round of 16, according to Ray Wilkins and Tony Cottee, after the London clubs were paired with Paris St-Germain and reigning champions Barcelona respectively. They met in the tournament final back in 2006, a fixture Barca – featuring a cameo appearance from Henrik Larsson – won 2-1.

“A good draw? We don’t know if it is good until we play the games”, he told beIN Sport.

“And they are at home in the first leg because they finished second in their group”.

Chelsea went out 3-3 on aggregate to PSG at this stage last season.

“There will be 180 minutes of football, we have to play two games and we’ll see where that takes us”.

Record 10-time winners Real Madrid will face Roma while Manchester City will meet Ukrainians Dynamo Kiev for a place in the quarter-finals.

Premier League title chasers City, meanwhile, have never made it past the last 16 of the Champions League. The return legs are on March 8-9 and 15-16.

Although Barca can boast the famed forward trident of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar, Miles claimed Arsenal, who will play the first leg at home on February 23, have their own players to grace the occasion.