Football: Gunners facing second big test

Favourites Barcelona to show Arsenal plenty of respect in Champions League last-16 clash

In-form strikers Olivier Giroud (left) of Arsenal and Luis Suarez of Barcelona will hope to fire on all cylinders when the two teams meet in the Champions League last-16 fixture. Arsenal, who made it through even after losing three of their opening f
In-form strikers Olivier Giroud (above) of Arsenal and Luis Suarez of Barcelona will hope to fire on all cylinders when the two teams meet in the Champions League last-16 fixture. Arsenal, who made it through even after losing three of their opening four group games, will find it tough against highly favoured Barcelona, to whom they lost in 2010 and 2011. PHOTOS: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
In-form strikers Olivier Giroud (left) of Arsenal and Luis Suarez of Barcelona will hope to fire on all cylinders when the two teams meet in the Champions League last-16 fixture. Arsenal, who made it through even after losing three of their opening f
In-form strikers Olivier Giroud of Arsenal and Luis Suarez (above) of Barcelona will hope to fire on all cylinders when the two teams meet in the Champions League last-16 fixture. Arsenal, who made it through even after losing three of their opening four group games, will find it tough against highly favoured Barcelona, to whom they lost in 2010 and 2011. PHOTOS: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

NYON (Switzerland) • Arsenal's reward for completing a great escape is a Champions League last-16 clash with Barcelona as the two clubs were paired together in yesterday's draw.

The Gunners had less than a 10 per cent chance of making the knockout stages after losing three of their opening four group games. And the odds will once again be against them when they take on the tournament favourites.

The La Liga giants prevailed 2-1 when the sides met in the final at the Stade de France 10 years ago, and also triumphed in the knockout phase in 2010 and 2011.

Moreoever, Barcelona star Lionel Messi tends to enjoy coming up against Arsene Wenger's men, scoring six goals in four games against the Gunners.

  • Champions League last-16 fixtures

  • Gent v VFL Wolfsburg

    AS Roma v Real Madrid

    Paris Saint-Germain v Chelsea

    Arsenal v Barcelona

    Juventus v Bayern Munich

    PSV Eindhoven v Atletico Madrid

    Benfica v Zenit St Petersburg

    Dynamo Kiev v Manchester City

    First legs on Feb 16-17 and Feb 23-24. Return legs on March 8-9 and March 15-16.

  • Europa League last-32 fixtures

  • Valencia v Rapid Vienna

    Fiorentina v Tottenham Hotspur

    Borussia Dortmund v FC Porto

    Fenerbahce v Lokomotiv Moscow

    Anderlecht v Olympiakos Piraeus

    Midtjylland v Manchester United

    FC Augsburg v Liverpool

    Sparta Prague v FK Krasnodar

    Galatasaray v Lazio

    Sion v Braga

    Shakhtar Donetsk v Schalke 04

    Olympique Marseille v Athletic Bilbao

    Sevilla v Molde

    Sporting Lisbon v Bayer Leverkusen

    Villarreal v Napoli

    St Etienne v FC Basel

    First legs on Feb 18, return legs on Feb 25.

But Barcelona director Albert Soler said the holders have plenty of respect for Arsenal.

"Arsenal are a strong team," he said. "The only guarantee we have is that we'll have two great teams playing two great games. Arsenal and Barcelona have a similar style of play.

"The fans will enjoy themselves, we're two sides with a similar understanding of the game."

Arsenal secretary David Miles admitted that the club had more ideal opponents in mind after their 3-0 win at Olympiakos on Wednesday.

"On the back of the great win in Athens, we were hoping for a good draw today and I think it's the tie of the round," he told BT Sport.

"It's not going to be easy and it's the team that most Arsenal fans would have wanted to avoid at this stage but it's up to us to make a good fist of it."

Fellow Londoners Chelsea, who are enduring a torrid time in the Premier League, will face French league leaders Paris Saint-Germain in the knockout stages for the third year in succession.

The French champions triumphed at exactly the same stage last season while the 2012 champions had the upper hand in the quarter-finals the previous year.

"There is not much we don't know about Paris," said Chelsea general secretary David Barnard.

Another clash between big guns will feature former winners and last season's finalists Juventus and Bayern Munich, while 10-time champions Real Madrid were drawn against AS Roma.

Juventus could come to regret having blown their finale in the group stage, leaving Manchester City, who will take on Dynamo Kiev, with the better draw on paper.

"Everybody wanted to avoid Barca and Bayern so we are not so lucky but Bayern will not be glad they drew Juve," said Juventus ambassador Pavel Nedved.

Indeed, Bayern sporting director Matthias Sammer has noted that the Italian champions are peaking at the right time.

After a poor start to their Italian Serie A campaign, they notched their sixth successive league win on Sunday to go fourth.

"Juventus are a very attractive opponent, whom we all know very well," he said.

"We ousted them in 2012-13 when we won the Champions League. Currently they are back to top form after a difficult start to the season."

Real Madrid and Roma have also seen a lot of each other in the competition, though not since 2008 when the Italians won 2-1 home and away in the last 16.

"You have to be very much on your guard. If we see ourselves as favourites, things won't go well for us," said Real director Emilio Butragueno.

"We know what can happen if you have 10 poor minutes on a European night."

The rest of the ties, which see all eight group winners at home in the second legs, feature two-time runners-up Atletico Madrid against 1988 champions PSV Eindhoven, with Benfica, twice former winners, meeting Zenit St Petersburg.

Wolfsburg, who dumped out Manchester United to reach the knockout phase for the first time, will meet competition debutants Gent from Belgium.

The first legs will be played on Feb 16-17 and Feb 23-24 with the return matches scheduled to take place on March 8-9 and March 15-16.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on December 15, 2015, with the headline Football: Gunners facing second big test. Subscribe