Arsenal vs. Barcelona ‘is the tie of the round’

Arsenal and Chelsea have both been handed incredibly hard ties in the last 16 of this year’s UEFA Champions League, with the Gunners drawn to play Barcelona and the Blues set to rekindle their rivalry with PSG.

Arsenal recovered from a woeful start to their group as a 3-0 victory at Olympiakos last week sent the Gunners through to the last 16 for the 16th successive season.

Man City will see Ukranian side Dynamo Kyiv as an opportunity to progress into the quarter finals after they drew Barcelona lasts season.

PSV Eindhoven are to take on Atletico Madrid and Benfica are to face Zenit St Petersburg.

First legs are scheduled to take place on 16-17 and 23-24 February with the return matches on 8th and 9th and 15th and 16th of March. Arsenal are a team who like to have the ball and we will enjoy that.

Barcelona are the current holders of the cup and have won the Champions League three other times in their history, one against Arsenal in the 2006 final where Barcelona won 2-1.

Arsenal secretary David Miles was quick to admit that the draw was not what Arsenal fans had hoped for.

PSG may be unbeaten in a record 14 Ligue 1 games, rocketing to a greater lead at the top of the domestic table than Chelsea have points in the Premier League, but form goes out of the window over two legs.

Having said that, we have got our own world class players. There will be two fantastic games in London and Barcelona and we’re very much looking forward to it. They’ve beaten us twice in the last five or six years so it’s about time we turned the table on them.

The last time City faced Kiev Mario Balotelli grabbed the headlines after he had to be subbed because he was allergic to the grass. In February we will have a few players back from injury and we will be ready to give everything.

Liverpool face Augsburg, another club in their maiden European campaign, while Sevilla, bidding for a hat-trick of Europa Leag-ue titles, meet Norwegian team Molde.

Also, Manchester United’s next match in Europe will be at Danish club Midtjylland, while two-time defending champion Sevilla hosts Molde.