Arsenal will hope to be given either Zenit St Petersburg or Wolfsburg when the draw for the Champions League's last 16 takes place in Nyon, Switzerland, today.
Zenit would perhaps represent the best-case scenario for Arsene Wenger's team, although Wolfsburg would make for less strenuous travelling arrangements. Their four other potential opponents are Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.
Arsenal were perhaps fortunate to progress to this stage after their inconsistent form in Group F, in which they finished second behind Bayern Munich, but they will at least know they will avoid the German champions at this first knockout stage, which they have failed to progress beyond during the past five seasons. Defending champions Barca, incidentally, eliminated them in 2010 and 2011.
Manchester City, meanwhile, would likely prefer to avoid Paris St Germain. During the past two seasons, Manuel Pellegrini's team have finished as runners-up at the group stage before being drawn against Barca and both times being eliminated.
Despite losing twice to Juventus in Group D, they finished first and are therefore seeded, meaning they will this time avoid Barca, in addition to Bayern and Real.
Their potential opponents include PSG, PSV Eindhoven, Benfica, Roma, Dynamo Kiev and Gent, and whoever they face will present their finest chance to date of reaching the competition's quarter-finals for the first time in their history, something they may find particularly satisfying given Manchester United's presence in the Europa League.
Chelsea will similarly hope to avoid PSG, who knocked them out of last season's competition. Their potential opponents are the French champions, PSV, Benfica, Juve, Roma and Gent.
For all of their domestic struggles, they have performed to a greater level in the Champions League. Given manager Jose Mourinho's knowledge of the competition he won as a manager in both 2004 and 2010, and the fact they won it in 2012 when they similarly struggled in the Premier League, a kind draw could yet make them serious challengers.
Source: PA-WIRE
