Europe’s Champions League Matches Have Been Drawn

Barcelona have won three Champions League titles in the interim, and have – in spite of some stiff competition – become the club of the era in these golden days of European football.

Arsenal weren’t given a chance of making it through their Champions League group after their first two losses but the team did defeat Bayern at home.

He insisted: “They’re a complicated and hard challenge, a magnificent adversary”.

“We did not want to play Paris or Juve – but this is more straight-forward”. The Germans have drawn surprise package Gent, from Belgium.

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

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

“My family said “if you draw Barcelona, don’t bother coming home”.

Chelsea also face a testing tie against Paris Saint-Germain, the third season in succession they have met in the knockout stages.

PSG coach Laurent Blanc saw his side extend their unbeaten start to the domestic season with a 5-1 rout of Lyon on Sunday, but he said there were two teams he was hoping to dodge in the draw.

He said: “As always, we have the utmost respect”.

Arsenal haven’t had much luck against them in more recent meetings either. With 27 goals scored at an average of nearly 4 per game, one can definitely expect the goals to flow when the two sides meet in February & March next year. They have great players, players who are known around the world.

It’s not going to be easy and it’s the team that most Arsenal fans would have wanted to avoid at this stage but it’s up to us to make a good fist of it.

Some Twitter users picked up club secretary David Miles’ rather muted response to facing Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez.

PSG, which set a competition record conceding only one goal in its group, could be the favorite against Chelsea for the first time.

Chelsea beat PSG en route to the 2014 semi-finals but lost to them in March in a last-16 tie overshadowed by a racist inicident involving fans on the Paris Metro.

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

Juventus could come to regret having blown their finale in the group stage, leaving Manchester City, who are to take on Dynamo Kiev, with the better draw on paper. “We showed last season that we were competitive; we still are this year”. They are a strong side, but they like to play football and it is just 11 v 11.