Arsenal drawn against Barcelona in the Champions League

PSG knocked the English Premier League champions out of the competition at this stage last season and were the stiffest possible competition Chelsea could have met. However, after the first two results were evenly split between the two sides, this meeting in the round of 16 gives each team a chance to grab the advantage.

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

The La Liga champions will certainly be expected to progress to the quarter-finals.

In the aftermath of that game, Ibrahimovic – known for his blatant statements – had accused Chelsea players of being crybabies.

Barcelona aren’t invincible as seen in the weekend when they let a two goal lead slip at home. We can’t wait, even if the matches aren’t until February.

City director of football Txiki Begiristain said: “It’s going to be hard for us but the most important thing is that we show we’re improving in this competition and we’ll fight to get to the quarters”. They have a great mentality.

“February is not so far away, but there is nothing to say that Chelsea will still be in the same position, and nothing to say that we will be in the same form as we are now”.

Now to the Round of 32 of the UEFA Europa League draw, where England’s Manchester United have been paired with Danish champions Midtjylland.

City fans have been similarly prevented from watching their team before, after CSKA Moscow were hit with a stadium closure last season. In his last 16 games, the talismanic forward has scored 14 goals and contributed six assists.

In other high-profile ties, struggling Premier League victor Chelsea takes on French champion Paris Saint-Germain and last year’s runner-up Juventus plays German champion Bayern Munich.

“It couldn’t have got worse for Chelsea and it couldn’t have got worse for Arsenal”, Carragher, who won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2005, concluded. I think most Arsenal fans would have wanted to avoid them but it’s up to us to put on a performance.

“And we are playing the second game away”. It’s become something of a Classique for us.

“We were 100 percent ready, without being worn out by the domestic worries of the league”.

Former Champions League victor Borussia Dortmund and Porto also meet while exciting ties feature Olympique de Marseille against Athletic Bilbao, Anderlecht vs. Olympiakos Piraeus, Shakhtar Donetsk against Schalke 04 and Lazio vs. Galatasaray. Juventus are one of the best teams in Europe.