Chelsea & Arsenal face Italian jobs in CL
PA Photos
Napoli qualified from the Champions League at the expense of Manchester City
Arsenal and Chelsea both face daunting trips to Italy in the Champions League last 16, having drawn AC Milan and Napoli respectively.
Both Premier League sides won their groups, and were handed arguably the toughest opponents they could have faced from the pool of runners-up.
Napoli proved their class by qualifying from Manchester City's group, taking four points from Roberto Mancini's side in the process. They are currently fifth in Serie A, nine points off leaders Juventus. Chelsea boss Villas-Boas will have seen Napoli at close quarters during a spell working under Jose Mourinho at Inter Milan.
Villas-Boas said before the draw that he was desperate to avoid AC Milan - he did, but Arsenal were not so lucky. Milan, two places higher than Napoli in Serie A, finished second in their group behind Barcelona, drawing 2-2 at Camp Nou and losing 3-2 at home. Arsenal will take heart from the fact they knocked Milan out of the competition in 2008, while Tottenham eliminated the Rossoneri last season.
Both British sides will travel to Italy first. The opening legs will take place on February 14/15 or 21/22, with the returns on March 6/7 or 13/14.
Elsewhere in the draw, holders Barcelona face Bayer Leverkusen, who were runners-up in Chelsea's group. Real Madrid must play on CSKA Moscow's artificial surface, while 2010 winners Inter Milan will take on Marseille.
Full draw: Lyon v APOEL Nicosia Napoli v Chelsea AC Milan v Arsenal Basel v Bayern Munich Bayer Leverkusen v Barcelona CSKA Moscow v Real Madrid Zenit v Benfica Marseille v Inter Milan
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i reckon napoli's main danger man has to be cavani if players like ramires and sturridge can link up well then i fancy them to go through BUT they have to stop cavani !!
as for arsenal i see them going through as wilshere will be back which i think a lot of people are forgetting and we have RVP walcott who caused so much trouble to AC Milan in 2008 i reckon it will be a closely fought match at san siro maybe a 1-0 win for arsenal or a 1-1 draw then arsenal will take a big lead of 3-1 at the emirates COME ON GUNNERS
@ gregg wayne
man utd supporter ? dont hate just cos ur team got knocked out the champions league u always have the europa now hahahahahahahaha !!!
dont even try deny arsenals success as a club unlike ur team we dont spend 30 million on signing flops ( BERBATOV ) we would rather spend 4.75 mill on van persie hahahaha
as a hole arsenal might not be as successful as man utd trophy wise but we will catch up u will see
Both teams will go through if they perform to their capabilities, no doubting that, but after that it get's tougher and tougher and with Platinis love of Barca and dislike of English teams don't expect Barca to fail to make the final. He simply won't allow another all Englsh final.
The diabolical refereeeing in the 2009 semi final between Barcelona and Chelsea was down to Platini making it very clear another all England final was not wanted. This pressured the ref into his grotesquely biased approach and it will happen again if Platini feels it's necessary to help Barcelona win. UEFA are just as corrupt as FIFA
@ gregg wayne
whats the point of playing the group stages if you dont seed the winners and runners up??
what incentive is there to try and win your group if then you dont actually get any further benefit over coming second??
i think you have to have seeding for the group winners and second placed but really dont think that third should get into the europa
