The Champions League draw for the round of 16 is out is out. Well, but still, it's a long way till the matches are played. The matches are to be played on Feb 12-20(1st leg) & March 5-12(2nd leg)
Schedule
Galatasaray v Schalke
(February 20 and March 12)
Celtic v Juventus
(February 12 and March 6)
Arsenal v Bayern Munich
(February 19 and March 13)
Shakhtar Donetsk v Borussia Dortmund
(February 13 and March 5)
AC Milan v Barcelona
(February 20 and March 12)
Real Madrid v Manchester United
(February 13, March 5)
Valencia v Paris Saint-Germain
(February 12 and March 6)
Porto v Malaga
(February 19 and March 13)
Pick of the Ties?
Real Madrid vs Manchester United. The 2nd leg is at Old Trafford, pundits say is an advantage, but I'm not very sure. There is always more of a concern of conceding away goals in the 2nd leg than the 1st leg, because you can't do anything about it as there is no 3rd leg to counter effect, unlike the when the 1st leg, u can counter it in the 2nd leg. I usually prefer the Home game being 1st. But sometimes all that matters it quality.
Another fact is the Real Madrid have faced United twice in the Champions League knockout phase and have kicked the out of the competition on both occasions.
Also no for getting it will be the return of Ronaldo to the theatre of Dreams. Wonder how will the crowd react to his homecoming.
Other ties
Not many must have noticed but the other match the excites me is Shaktar vs Dortmund. Shaktar were fantastic in the group stages. They did well where the group included the defending Champs Chelsea and Italian giants Juventus. Quite keen to see how William fares, seems like a good footballer.
Dortmund on the other hand were in the group of death, consisting of the English Champions Manchester City, Spanish champions Real Madrid and Dutch champions Ajax. Before the start of the season I expected Ajax to finish in the bottom two, but surprisingly, they topped it. Although, they aren't doing that well in the German league, but they seem to have set their sights on gaining Champions League glory this season.
Milan vs Barcelona is another big club match. Messi scoring in almost every game, Barcelona topping the group stages, and Barcelona just dropping 2 points all season in the LaLiga, Barcelona seem favorites again.
Arsenal play Bayern Munich. With Arsenal struggling in the league, losing their goal scoring machine Van Persie to Manchester United has created distress among the Arsenal faithfully, some even prompting Wenger to resign. On the other hand, Bayern are enjoying themselves in the German league. Although there seems little doubt that Bayern will go through, Arsenal can still put a challenge with the signing of some good players.
For the remaining ties I pick Schalke, Juventus, PSG and Porto to go through