Arsenal hope to turn tables on Barcelona in Champions League

It is the game between Barcelona and Arsenal which most catches the eye, however. Having said that, we have got our own world class players.

French heavyweights Paris Saint-Germain were drawn against 2012 winners Chelsea for the third straight season, while Bayern Munich will meet last year’s finalists Juventus.

“This is the third year we play against Chelsea so it has become some kind of a “clasico” for us”, PSG president Nasser al-Khelaifi said.

“We’re all unanimous in saying that there are only good teams left – we all know that. We are ambitious, we have 2½ months to prepare”, Olivier Létang, the PSG sports director, said.

Pep Guardiola’s Bayern Munich will square off against lasts season’s runner up Juventus, Bayern will look to maintain their proud Champions League’s record.

“We might have hoped to be luckier in this draw but I like our team in Europe so far”, Juventus vice president Pavel Nedved said.

As for the remaining games, we’ll have Benfica facing Zenit, Gent against Wolfsburg, PSV colliding with Atletico Madrid and Manchester City vs Dynamo Kiev.

Return legs are on 8-9 and 15-16 March.

Barcelona defeated Arsenal in the 2006 final, after Arsene Wenger’s side had taken the lead.

Contrast that with Chelsea, who seem capable of losing any match they play this season and frequently do – most alarmingly with last weekend’s reversal at home to Bournemouth. Both teams are struggling a lot more than we could expect at the beginning of the season and they’re both falling behind in their leagues’ title hunt. The North Londoners will be terrified of the fact that Lionel Messi, arguably one of the best players in the history of football, is now the weak link in Barca’s front three.

However, the club’s official website took the interesting decision of adding Danish club Brondby into the club’s fixture list alongside the reigning Champions League winners, in an embarrassing gaffe that has been jumped on by the usual social media sharks. I’m sure we’ll have some problems playing against them, so let’s wait and see.

Thiago Silva is confident PSG have what it takes to beat Chelsea and believes their break over the festive period could make the difference.

“We were in a very complicated group and we did very well to come through it without too much difficulty”.

Former Real Madrid and Spain star Emilio Butragueno, now a club director with the La Liga giants, admitted the draw could have been worse for Rafael Benitez’s side.

“We know what can happen if you have 10 poor minutes on a European night”.

They (Kiev) have a good side and it will be hard for us. They are growing in the competition and it will be a big challenge but we hope to be ready.