Barcelona draw Man City in last 16 stage
17 Dec 2013 5:30 AM IST
Champions Bayern Munich were also given a hard draw as they plucked Arsenal for the second year in a row at this stage.
For the English pair, who both finished second in their groups, it was yet again a harsh lesson in the importance of winning the group.
Manchester United and Chelsea, both group winners, were given far more favourable draws against Olympiakos and Galatasaray respectively. In fairness to Arsenal and City, they did have the toughest possible groups facing one each of last season’s finalists.
City came within a single goal of pipping Bayern to top spot in their group when a 3-2 win in Munich was one goal short of what they needed to overhaul the Bavarians. Manchester City coach Manuel Pellegrini told a press conference that Barca would be the more upset of the pair over the draw.
‘I think Barcelona will be very concerned that they have drawn us. They are not the team of two years ago,’ he said. But Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino insisted neither side would be delighted with the draw. ‘City will not have wanted to play against Barcelona either,’ he said. ‘They are scoring goals with ease so we are not going to discover them now. We want to play well in the tie and obviously win it. But it won’t be an easy task,’ said Martino.
Olympiakos coach Michel did not sound confident of causing an upset against United. ‘We like the idea of going to play at Old Trafford; it is a nice destination for our fans,’ he said. Manchester United is a major club. We are talking about a huge football organisation. They will be two tough matches.’
French giants Paris Saint-Germain pulled Bayer Leverkusen while AC Milan will face Atletico Madrid. PSG coach Laurent Blanc seemed quite satisfied, saying: ‘It could have been more difficult but all the matches are difficult. ‘When you see the first match that was drawn (City-Barca), there are only huge teams.’
Last-16 ties: 18/19/25/26 February (first legs) and 11/12/18/19 March (2nd legs), Quarter finals: 1/2 April and 8/9 April, Semi-finals: 22/23 April and 29/30 April, Final: 24 May.
Tottenham to face Dnipro in Europa
NYON: Tottenham will face Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in the last 32 of the Europa League without the coach who led the team to an unbeaten record in the group stage. Napoli, which also dropped out of the Champions League, was drawn to play away first against Premier League side Swansea. Viktoria Plzen plays Shakhtar Donetsk in a pairing of teams which started the season in the Champions League. Porto, which won the 2011 Europa League with Villas-Boas as coach, will play Eintracht Frankfurt. Dynamo Kiev hosts Valencia. Sevilla, which won in 2006 and ‘07, is away to Maribor.
For the English pair, who both finished second in their groups, it was yet again a harsh lesson in the importance of winning the group.
Manchester United and Chelsea, both group winners, were given far more favourable draws against Olympiakos and Galatasaray respectively. In fairness to Arsenal and City, they did have the toughest possible groups facing one each of last season’s finalists.
City came within a single goal of pipping Bayern to top spot in their group when a 3-2 win in Munich was one goal short of what they needed to overhaul the Bavarians. Manchester City coach Manuel Pellegrini told a press conference that Barca would be the more upset of the pair over the draw.
‘I think Barcelona will be very concerned that they have drawn us. They are not the team of two years ago,’ he said. But Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino insisted neither side would be delighted with the draw. ‘City will not have wanted to play against Barcelona either,’ he said. ‘They are scoring goals with ease so we are not going to discover them now. We want to play well in the tie and obviously win it. But it won’t be an easy task,’ said Martino.
Olympiakos coach Michel did not sound confident of causing an upset against United. ‘We like the idea of going to play at Old Trafford; it is a nice destination for our fans,’ he said. Manchester United is a major club. We are talking about a huge football organisation. They will be two tough matches.’
French giants Paris Saint-Germain pulled Bayer Leverkusen while AC Milan will face Atletico Madrid. PSG coach Laurent Blanc seemed quite satisfied, saying: ‘It could have been more difficult but all the matches are difficult. ‘When you see the first match that was drawn (City-Barca), there are only huge teams.’
Last-16 ties: 18/19/25/26 February (first legs) and 11/12/18/19 March (2nd legs), Quarter finals: 1/2 April and 8/9 April, Semi-finals: 22/23 April and 29/30 April, Final: 24 May.
Tottenham to face Dnipro in Europa
NYON: Tottenham will face Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in the last 32 of the Europa League without the coach who led the team to an unbeaten record in the group stage. Napoli, which also dropped out of the Champions League, was drawn to play away first against Premier League side Swansea. Viktoria Plzen plays Shakhtar Donetsk in a pairing of teams which started the season in the Champions League. Porto, which won the 2011 Europa League with Villas-Boas as coach, will play Eintracht Frankfurt. Dynamo Kiev hosts Valencia. Sevilla, which won in 2006 and ‘07, is away to Maribor.
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