London clubs hope to avoid Euro giants in knockout stage draw
ARSENAL, Chelsea and Tottenham will discover their next European opponents today when the draws for the last 16 of the Champions League and last 32 of the Europa League are made.
Arsenal cannot meet Manchester United or group stage foes Schalke in the Champions League, but could face Barcelona, and former Gunners Cesc Fabregas and Alex Song, for the third time in four years. Paris Saint-Germain, German giants Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea’s conquerors Juventus are also possible opponents, while Malaga look the least threatening option.
Chelsea have been seeded for the Europa League last 32, meaning they could get Atletico Madrid, Ajax or Inter Milan.
Tottenham’s most dangerous potential opponents look to be Lyon, Benfica and Rubin Kazan.
THE DRAWS
■ Champions League last 16
Pot one: PSG, Schalke, Malaga, Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, Bayern Munich, Barcelona, MAN UTD
Pot two: Porto, ARSENAL, AC Milan, Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk, Valencia, Celtic, Galatasaray
■ Europa League last 16
Pot one: LIVERPOOL, Viktoria Plzen, Fenerbahce, Bordeaux, Steaua Bucharest, Dnipro, Genk, Rubin Kazan, Lyon, Lazio, Metalist Kharkiv, Hannover, CHELSEA, Cluj, Olympiacos, Benfica
Pot two: Anzhi Makachkala, At Madrid, Borussia Monchengladbach, Newcastle, Stuttgart, Napoli, Basel, Inter Milan,
Sparta Prague, Tottenham, Bayer Leverkusen, Levante, Dinamo Kiev, Zenit, Ajax, BATE Borisov
■ Teams cannot be drawn with clubs from the same country or who qualified from the same group