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Tuesday, 17 December 2013

REACTIONS TO THE UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ROUND OF 16 DRAWS

The draw for the UEFA Champions League round of 16 was drawn yesterday Monday as the Road to Lisbon 2014 enters another stage.
With teams who finished top of their respective groups were sure to face the second placed team from the other groups but bearing in mind that no two club from the same country could face each other at this stage of the competition.

After the highly organised draw, a total of eight mouth watering fixtures were dished out from the rolling balls in the pots.
Round of 16 fixtures:

Tuesday 18 February:
Manchester City v Barcelona
Bayer Leverkusen v Paris Saint-Germain
Wednesday 19 February:
AC Milan v Atletico Madrid
Arsenal v Bayern Munich
Tuesday 25 February:
Olympiakos v Manchester United
Zenit St Petersburg v Borussia Dortmund
Wednesday 26 February:
Galatasaray v Chelsea
Schalke v Real Madrid
Tuesday 11 March:
Atletico Madrid v AC Milan
Bayern Munich v Arsenal
Wednesday 12 March:
Barcelona v Manchester City
Paris Saint-Germain v Bayer Leverkusen
Tuesday 18 March:
Chelsea v Galatasaray
Real Madrid v Schalke
Wednesday 19 March:
Manchester United v Olympiakos
Borussia Dortmund v Zenit St Petersburg

With the draws now made teams as well as fans and all those associated with the various clubs have started reacting to the draws with hopes that it will favour their team.
FC Bayern München defender Jérôme Boateng and captain Philipp Lahm spoke of Premier League leaders Arsenal FC being the most difficult last-16 draw for the holders saying he tie could also be a "good omen" for Josep Guardiola's side, the holders having beaten the Gunners on away goals at the same stage last season. 
Meanwhile Olympiacos FC coach Míchel is looking forward to a "celebration of football" when his side meet Manchester United FC in the UEFA Champions League round of 16, but defender Avraam Papadopoulos will not be underestimating the English champions despite their recent domestic slip-ups. United assistant boss Steve Round is happy with the pairing yet knows it will be tough to overcome the Greek Super League leaders who advanced from Group C behind Paris Saint-Germain. 
Else where Didier Drogba says "I'm the luckiest man in the Champions League,"after finding out his Galatasaray AŞ side will meet former employers Chelsea FC in the round of 16.
While Drogba and his former Chelsea team mates are expecting a reunion party Raul Garcia of Atletico Madrid is execting to upset AC  Milan.
Midfielder Raúl García thinks Club Atlético de Madrid will be well-placed against AC Milan if they stay true to their "football philosophy" but warns a lot can change in two months.
[Milan] are a team with history, it will be nice to play them. We're really looking forward to beating a club like AC Milan. We have to continue to stay true to our football philosophy – if we do that, we'll certainly have a good contest.
There are two months until the tie, so we have time to see how both teams shape up. In a few weeks we'll talk about how each team is looking. Milan are finding it difficult to implement a style, something other teams seem to have at the moment. We've still no doubt that they have great players and can hurt you at any time. 
After seeing German Club Schalke 04 drawn against LA Liga champions Real Madrid, Schalke coach Jens Keller says It's a great draw for us and our fans. It's a fantastic challenge for our players to play against the most famous club in the world with players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Iker Casillas and Gareth Bale. We are really looking forward to it.
Finally Borussia Dortmund coach Jürgen Klopp is refusing to underestimate FC Zenit after the round of 16 draw while Anatoliy Tymoshchuk hopes to come back and haunt BVB.
He(Klopp) was quoted as saying "I've never been to Russia but I'm looking forward to our games against Zenit. In the coming weeks we will prepare intensively for these matches and study them as best as possible. Any team that manages to survive the group stage of the Champions League is a quality side, but I can't say much about them at the moment. It wouldn't be very professional to talk about them in detail two months before the games actually take place".

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