Champions League Draw Pits Barcelona Against Manchester City
LONDON — The first pairing drawn out on Monday for the knockout stage of the Champions League is potentially the most exciting of the tournament.
It pits Manchester City, the most expensively assembled and currently the highest-scoring team in Europe, against Barcelona. City’s manager, Manuel Pellegrini, was close to being Barcelona’s choice as coach because his style is to play open, attractive soccer.
When the Round of 16 match is played beginning in February, first in Manchester and then in Catalonia, the contest among the strikers alone will be captivating. For City, Sergio Agüero and Álvaro Negredo are well known in the Spanish league and have recently been on fire, especially at City’s fortress home, the Etihad Stadium.
But of course, Barça needs fear no one in the scoring stakes. Lionel Messi should be back and rested after his hamstring injuries, while the Brazilian striker Neymar has begun to blossom in Messi’s absence.
Another intriguing match pits Galatasaray against Chelsea. This could be what Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho had said that he wanted, the return to Stamford Bridge of Didier Drogba, the striker whose penalty won the Champions League for Chelsea in 2012. Drogba returns a little older, well traveled, and in the colors of the Istanbul club.
The defending champion, Bayern Munich, also travels to London, for a rematch of a tie it won against Arsenal a year ago.
Manchester City vs. Barcelona
Olympiakos vs. Manchester United
A.C. Milan vs. Atlético Madrid
Bayer Leverkusen vs. Paris St.-Germain
Galatasaray vs. Chelsea
Schalke vs. Real Madrid
Zenit St. Petersburg vs. Borussia Dortmund
Arsenal vs. Bayern Munich
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