Reds face Barca test
15 Dec 2006 - 11:37:42
The last two winners of the Champions League - Liverpool and Barcelona - will meet in the final 16 of this season's competition, while Jose Mourinho returns to the club he guided to the 2004 crown, after his Chelsea side were drawn against FC Porto.
Manchester United and Arsenal will both be confident of progressing to the quarter-finals after drawing Lille and PSV Eindhoven respectively, while Celtic face AC Milan.
Mourinho helped FC Porto beat AS Monaco in the 2004 Champions League final before succeeding Claudio Ranieri in the Stamford Bridge hot-seat.
The Portuguese side finished runners-up to Arsenal this season in a group that also included CSKA Moscow and Hamburg and are currently top of their domestic league after winning 11 of their first 13 matches.
Liverpool beat AC Milan on penalties in the 2005 final while Barcelona claimed their second crown by beating Arsenal 2-1 in the final in Paris seven months ago.
This time, Frank Rijkaard's side only qualified for the last 16 after beating Werder Bremen in their final group match and only took one point from their two games against Chelsea. They currently lead La Liga by two points from second-placed Sevilla.
Arsenal face a PSV Eindhoven side that is seven points clear in the Dutch League and which finished second behind Liverpool in the group stage ahead of Bordeaux and Galatasaray.
Manchester United play Lille, who are through to this stage of the competition for the first time in their history. The two sides met in the group stage of the Champions League last season when they both failed to qualify for the last 16 after finishing behind Villarreal and Benfica.
The French side finished second in the group stage this term behind AC Milan as they knocked out AEK Athens and Anderlecht. They are currently third in Ligue 1.
Celtic, in the last 16 for the first time, face 2003 winners AC Milan. The Italian side are currently struggling and are in the bottom half of the Serie A table, after starting the season on minus eight points.
The full draw is:
FC Porto v Chelsea
Celtic v AC Milan
PSV Eindhoven v Arsenal
Lille v Manchester United
AS Roma v Lyon
Barcelona v Liverpool
Real Madrid v Bayern Munich
Internazionale v Valencia
The first legs will be played on 20-21 February 2007, with the return games taking place two weeks later on March 6 and 7.