Source: Daily_Mail
Barcelona v Arsenal: Arsene Wenger is gunning for revenge
[LNB]Champions League last 16 Roma v Shakhtar Donetsk [LNB]AC Milan v Tottenham [LNB]Valencia v Schalke [LNB]Inter Milan v Bayern Munich [LNB]Lyon v Real Madrid [LNB]Arsenal v Barcelona [LNB]Marseille v Manchester United [LNB]Copenhagen v Chelsea[LNB]1st-leg ties February 15/16 & 22/23[LNB]2nd-leg ties March 8/9 & 15/16[LNB]Arsenalwill not meet Barcelona in the Champions League for another two monthsbut minutes after Friday's draw there were exchanges of a rather lessphysical nature between the two teams.[LNB]TheCatalans appear to be as keen on Twitter as their contemporaries in theBarclays Premier League because Carles Puyol responded to the news byimmediately firing a message to Cesc Fabregas. 'Arsenal oooooooohhhh!'he tweeted to Arsenal's captain.[LNB]Fabregasdid respond in Catalan and appeared to mention something about mucus,and it would be wrong to suggest Puyol was celebrating the fact thathis side would be meetinga team they beat 6-3 on aggregate in last season's quarter-finals.[LNB]ButPuyol's message served as an eerie reminder of last season's tie. Thosewords that appeared on the giant screens at the Nou Camp after 20, 37and 41 minutes and one more time after the interval.[LNB]'Goooooool De Messi,' they screamed, as the world's finest footballer almost single-handedlydestroyed Arsene Wenger's team.[LNB]Unstoppable: Barcelona playmaker Messi scores his fourth goal of the game against Arsenal last season[LNB]Arsenal had put up something of a fight in the first leg at The Emirates. They struggled for theopening half against the defending champions, enjoying just 29 per cent of the ball. But a battlingsecond half performance and goals from Fabregas and Theo Walcott secured a 2-2 draw that at least gave them a fighting chance.[LNB]Until, that is, Messi produced one of the most dazzling displays of his career.[LNB]'He made the impossible possible,' gushed Wenger before comparing him to a computer-generatedfigure on PlayStation.[LNB]That night Arsenal lost 4-1, and there is little evidence to suggest that it will be any easier on thisoccasionwhatever Wenger might have said. Especially if they remain asdefensively fragile as they have been so far this season by failing tosign a goalkeeper and possibly even another centre-half inthe January transfer window.[LNB]Even Wenger did not appear terribly optimistic. 'Difficult but possible,' was about as far as he would go.[LNB] Remember me: Fabregas scores a penalty against Barcelona during last season's draw at the Emirates[LNB]For Arsenal this is the price offailing to win their first round group. Having opened the campaign withthree straight wins, they then suffered back-to-back defeats againstShakhtar Donetsk and Braga and allowed the Ukrainians to finish top.Having said that, they still had a 75 per cent chance ofavoiding Barcelona so they probably feel a touch unfortunate.[LNB]'My reaction is very simple difficult but possible,' said Wenger. 'But the advantage is that we willbe on our toes and we'll be ready.'[LNB]Having beaten Inter Milan at White Hart Lane with a quite brilliant performance that was inspired byGareth Bale, Tottenham now meet the other tenants at the San Siro.[LNB]Again, Spurs manager Harry Redknappis relishing the opportunity to meet one of the giants of the Europeangame. 'It's a great draw,' he said. 'Whoever you draw is going to betough but it's anexciting game to play. I mean AC Milan, they're leading Serie A; they're the top team in Italy with great players.'[LNB] Same again please: Spurs' Welsh flyer Gareth Bale (right) terrorised Inter Milan in the group games [LNB]Spurs were the highest scorers inthe group stage with 18 goals from their six matches but, afterLeonardo's difficulties in following Carlo Ancelotti, Milan seem to bethriving under the guidance of Massimiliano Allegri.[LNB]With Zlatan Ibrahimovic on loan from Barcelona and forming what looks like a successful partnershipwith Alexandre Pato they have so far scored 15 goals between them with Robinho adding anothersix they could prove extremely dangerous. That said, they did lose athome to Ajax in their final group game earlier this month.[LNB]For Manchester United, the teamboasting the meanest defence in the first round, comes what should be aslightly easier encounter with Marseille. Even if they do have a finemanager in Didier Deschamps and a former United full-back in GabrielHeinze.[LNB] Familiar face: Heinze (left) called time on his United career in 2007 and had a spell at Real Madrid before France[LNB]They also embarrassed Ancelotti bybeating Chelsea at the Stade Velodrome earlier this month but they werenot terribly impressive in the game prior to that at Stamford Bridgeand boss Sir Alex Ferguson will certainly consider a better draw thanTottenham and Arsenal's.[LNB]In it to win it: Inter Milan manager Benitez[LNB]'Marseille are a handful at theirown ground,' said Ferguson. 'Their fantastic atmosphere and incrediblesupport guarantees that. They've had a good change in fortunes in thelast two or three years, after a dry spell, and I think it'll be a difficult tie.'[LNB]Had the rumours about Roman Abramovich's son, Arkady, buying the pension fund that has asizeablestake in FC Copenhagen been true, the draw in Nyon could have been alittle awkward for UEFA. Not least because it is against theirregulations for any individual to have a influence or control at morethan one club in their competitions.[LNB]But the Chelsea owner's son is notpursuing such a deal with Copenhagen and that means Ancelotti canprepare for his last 16 tie against the Danes without that distraction.[LNB]Copenhagen are the first Danish side to reach the last 16 of theChampions League but their coach, Sol Solbakken, believes his side willbe at a severe disadvantage because their tie takes place during theDanish League's winter break.[LNB]He said: 'That's the biggest disadvantage. We played Marseille at that time last year in the Europa League and we matched them for 60-70 minutes in both games but then we struggled to keep up with the tempo.'[LNB]No surprises then that Chelseamanager Ancelotti was quite pleased. 'It was a good draw,' he said.'But Copenhagen had good performances in the group. They drew againstBarcelona at home.'[LNB]For Ancelotti, however, the EuropeanCup is the target for this season. 'When you win the Premier League andthe FA Cup the next step is to try to win the Champions League,' he said. [LNB] Enlarge
