Arsenal handed Barcelona draw, Chelsea get PSG…again
Kyiv were were hit with a two-game stadium closure last month for the misbehaviour of their fans, which included racist chanting.
Laurent Blanc’s men were eliminated by Barcelona at the quarter-finals last season and the French coach has reportedly been told he needs to go further in the competition this year if he is to keep his job. “We must have maximum respect for Arsenal, they’re a great team and although we have a hard task ahead it will be a guaranteed spectacle of football”.
Arsenal have faced the defending champions seven times before and out of which they lost four times, and won once while two games had ended in draws.
Fernandez knows the tie in London is crucial to Barcelona’s chances of progressing, adding: “We have to be very good in the first game. It will be hard but if we want to win the Champions League, we have to win against all teams”, said Silva.
Technical secretary Robert Fernandez, now in Japan for the Club World Cup, said: “It’s an open and hard tie”.
“They are a strong side, but they like to play football and it is just 11 v 11”.
Although the club itself might point to some sort of typo to explain the freakish mistake, it seems unusual to think that Brondby IF were the team selected, considering that they did not even feature in this year’s competition. “It goes without saying we’ll continue to battle during the last 16”, said Juve vice-president Nedved. “But we are the reigning champions and that gives you an edge”.
City will be pleased to have avoided the French giants, who looked to be the most risky of the sides that qualified as group runners-up.
Meanwhile Manchester City is rewarded as they will face Dynamo Kyiv when they’ll try to reach the last-eight.
Last year, PSG travelled to Stamford Bridge after a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Paris and found themselves up against it when Zlatan Ibrahimovic was red carded after only 30 minutes. “We’re all hoping we’ll be celebrating qualification at the end of the second leg”. I’m sure we’ll have some problems playing against them, so let’s wait and see.