Arsenal draw Barcelona and Chelsea face PSG in Champions League last-16

Instead City got Dynamo Kiev, where the away leg will be played behind closed doors due to UEFA racism sanctions.

After Olivier Giroud’s hat-trick against Olympiacos last Wednesday propelled Arsenal out of the group stages for a 16th consecutive season, some Gunners were led to wonder whether it could finally be their year.

ARSENAL CLUB SECRETARY David Miles conceded being paired with Barcelona in the Champions League was not the draw the club’s fans – or his family – wanted.

“There is not much we don’t know about Paris”, Chelsea secretary David Barnard said.

Fernandez, now in Japan with Barca for their Club World Cup campaign, said: “It’s an open and hard tie”.

“It’s a very attractive tie for football and for the spectator”.

“We’re well equipped. We proved last year that we were competitive – this year we’re even more so”.

He said on the club website: “I think it will be tougher this season than previous year”.

Chelsea are a great team who have already won the Champions League.

“The worst possible outcome for Arsene Wenger’s side who must play out of their skins to stand a chance of reaching the quarter finals”, he told the Telegraph.

Dynamo Kiev beat Manchester City in the 2010-11 Europa League last 16, with striker Mario Balotelli sent off for the English side. “You shouldn’t take notice of Chelsea’s current form”.

“We still have many matches ahead of us by then, including a January that looks complicated”, Blanc said.

“We have great players to play a great match against Chelsea”. Are they contenders? No team has finished outside the top four being top at this point with this amount of points. “Clubs will play twice a week and this also will be significant”. There will be no love lost between the two teams when they face each other for the first tie on February 16, 2016.

“They have great players, Arsenal have a football philosophy that is similar to ours”. Their London rivals will, of course, be out for revenge after being edged out on away goals last season.

Valencia v Rapid Wien.

Paris St Germain coach Laurent Blanc hopes a “complicated” looking start to 2016 will not hinder their efforts to once again edge past Chelsea in the Champions League.

Midtjylland, who beat Southampton earlier in the competition, will host United on Februrary 18 and visit Old Trafford the following week. The two-time European champion will take on Bayern Munich, a victor of Europe five times.

Weinzierl said at a press conference: “The anticipation of facing Liverpool is huge”.