NYON, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Barcelona and Liverpool, the last
two winners of the Champions League, will face each other in the
first knockout round of the this season's competition following
the draw made on Friday.
The first leg will be at the Nou Camp where Barcelona have
never beaten, or even scored against Liverpool in three European
matches going back to 1976.
'We are the last two European champions and it will be an
extraordinary tie between the two teams,' Barca president Joan
Laporta told
Antena 3 television. 'They will be very tough
rivals and play a physical style of football.
'They also have players that we know very well like Luis
Garcia, who played with us, and Xabi Alonso. But we are the team
to beat.'
Another intriguing tie pits Porto, who won the competition
under coach Jose Mourinho in 2004, against Chelsea, where
Mourinho is now coach.
The sides met in the competition shortly after Mourinho went
to Chelsea in the summer of 2004, with Chelsea winning 3-1 at
home in a group match in September 2004 and Porto winning the
return 2-1 three months later.
Arsenal, runners-up to Barcelona in last season's final,
travel to PSV Eindhoven where Gilberto of Arsenal scored the
fastest goal in Champions League history after 20.07 seconds in
Arsenal's 4-0 win in a group match in September 2002.
In other ties, Lille face Manchester United, old rivals Real
Madrid will play Bayern Munich for the 17th time in European
competition, Inter Milan are up against Valencia, AS Roma will
meet Olympique Lyon and Celtic will face AC Milan.
The first legs will be staged on Feb. 20-21 next year with
the return legs on March 6-7. The final is in Athens in May.
FULL DRAW:
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Ties to be played February 20/21 & March 6/7 |
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| Lille |
v |
Manchester United |
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| Real Madrid |
v |
Bayern Munich |
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