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The next round of hostilities in the UEFA Champions League would not commence until February next year but the excitement even now is almost palpable!

Today, the pairings for the first knock out stage was announced and some intriguing matches were thrown up in the process. This is the best club competition in the world and by a mile too. European teams who are yet to win the prestigious trophy cannot qualify themselves as greats; it is as important as that!

The teams that qualified for this stage include the ‘four lions’ from England; Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United. The ‘four matadors’ from Spain; Athletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Villareal. There are two representatives from nearby Portugal: FC Porto and Sporting.

The Italians threw up three ‘Roman Generals’ in As Roma, Juventus and Inter Milan while ‘efficient’ Germany has only one representative but a giant for that matter; Bayern Munchen! France brought forward their perennial Champions League competitor, Olympic Lyon again to the table (or more aptly, the field). Greece also produced the surprise of the pack, Panathanaikos.

Having concluded the group rounds, the teams mentioned above braced themselves for the next opponents on February 24/25, and March 10/11, 2009 in preparation for the first and second legs respectively. The pairing is as follows:

Arsenal Vs Roma

Real Madrid Vs Liverpool

Inter Milan Vs Manchester United

Olympic Lyon Vs Barcelona

Chelsea Vs Juventus

Porto Vs Athletico Madrid

Villareal Vs Panathanaikos

Sporting Vs Bayern Munchen

While some coaches would be obviously delighted with the draws they got, ‘am sure Jose Mourinho and Alex Ferguson of Inter and Man U respectively would not be smiling at all! Already, there is a talking of putting one over Mourinho from the hierarchy at Old Trafford.

Rafael Benitez definitely will see the tie with Real Madrid as an opportunity to convince El Calderon and his lieutenants at the Bernabue that he is the ‘right man’ for the job. Meanwhile, a wry smile, I believe, is playing at the corners of Pep Guardiaola’s mouth! He got Olympic Lyon and they lack any pedigree at this satge of the competition.

For Arsene, the feeling, I guess would be ‘phew, it could have been worse’!  Arsenal has always done well overall against Italian oppositions.

What about Chelsea and Juventus? The great ‘tinker man’ Claudio Ranieri is back on familiar grounds. Will the fact that he was with Chelsea for three years have any impact on this match up? This, for me is the trickiest one among the many that we have.

The remaining three matches would throw up some surprises and, some will bet, disasters. Whatever the outcomes of these mouth watering encounters conjures; we are in for glorious moments of European football at the highest level.

And guess what? Our eyes will surely be better for it!

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