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Champions League Round of 16 2011
Champions League: Deja vu the key note of the round of 16
Ozren Podnar
The round of 16 of the Champions League 2010/11 will see the repetition of three ties from last season, including the final between Inter and Bayern. Arsenal will also meet last year's foes Barcelona, and Real Madrid will try to change a losing run against their recent nemesis Lyon.
Tottenham will face the current Italian league leaders Milan, while Manchester United and Chelsea should have slightly easier tasks against Marseille and Kobenhavn, respectively.
Neither Inter nor Bayern are the favourites to reach the finals in London this time, even though the Italians were recently crowned world champions by beating TP Mazembe in the Club World Cup Abu Dhabi. Inter are in turmoil due to the sacking of the unsettled Rafael Benitez and the arrival of Leonardo Araujo, while Bayern are but a shadow of last year's winning machine and already virtually dethroned by Dortmund as German champions.
The relative weakness of last year's finalists means that Arsenal vs Barcelona could be the biggest match-up of the round, promising a somewhat more evenly balanced score line than last season's aggregate of 6-3 in favour of Josep Guardiola's team. The same rivals also met in the 2006 final in Paris, when Barca came from behind to claim their second title against the Gunners, who were reduced to ten men after Jens Lehmann's early sending off.
Spurs will also face an uphill struggle against mighty Milan, whose fortunes have been greatly boosted by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the greatest luck bringer in European soccer. Ibra's teams finished top of their respective leagues eight times in the last nine seasons and the Devils are looking a good bet for this year's scudetto.
Tottenham's last European trophy dates back from 1984, before the time Silvio Berlusconi took over at San Siro and made Milan a global soccer powerhouse. Still, with the sensational Gareth Bale on the left flank and an inspirational Luka Modric in midfield, Tottenham may reasonably hope to upset the other Milan-based team as they did with Inter in the group stage.
Real seek revenge against Lyon
Beleaguered Chelsea have been awarded arguably the easiest opponent in Kobenhavn. However, Carlo Ancelotti is well aware that the Danes have made it this far by knocking out the wealthy Russian champions Rubin Kazan and Champions League regulars Panathinaikos.
Manchester United should make it through at the expense of the French champions Olympique Marseille, who qualified somewhat surprisingly after a dismal start to the group stage and a home defeat by Spartak Moscow. United's offensive repertoire will prove too much for Didier Deschamp's side immersed in the most exciting race in Le Championnat for years.
The French hopes lie again with the other Olympique, who have a perfect record against Real Madrid: six games, three wins, three draws and zero defeats for the seven-times winners of La Ligue. In fact, Lyon eliminated Madrid at the same stage in 2010 (1-0 at Gerland, 1-1 at Bernabeu), but this time they will have to deal with the wily Jose Mourinho. The most pragmatic of coaches also has at his disposal a vast pool of talent bought for him last summer by chairman Florentino Perez, so Lyon's lucky run against Madrid should come to an end.
The pairings
The ties will stretch out over four weeks for optimum media coverage and Tottenham will be the first English team to take the field on February 15th. The first-named clubs will play hosts in the first leg.
1st Leg; 2nd Leg
Feb 15/March 9 Milan vs Tottenham
Feb 15/March 9 Valencia vs Schalke
Feb 16/March 8 Roma vs Shakhtar
Feb 16/March 8 Arsenal vs Barcelona
Feb 22/March 16 Kobenhavn vs Chelsea
Feb 22/March 16 Lyon vs Real Madrid
Feb 23/March 15 Marseille vs Manchester Utd.
Feb 23/March 15 Inter vs Bayern
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